Basil
Mostly known for its extensive use in Italian cuisine, this herb originally comes from tropical Asia, where it has been cultivated for over 5,000 years. Basil is best used fresh. You can also buy dried basil leaves, but basil looses a lot of its aroma when dried, so fresh basil leaves should be preferred.
Basil is a herb that goes very well with tomatoes, either in a salad or in tomato sauces with pasta or pizza sauce. When adding basil to a pasta sauce, it’s best to add the basil at the very end, just before serving. The basil does not have to be cooked.
Basil plants can be bought in most supermarkets and they do well in a sunny spot on your kitchens window sill. When growing basil in your kitchen and the plant starts to flower, you should shake the stem a little each day to help with pollination. Each flower bud produces 4 seeds, that can clearly be seen when the flowers drop. They are green at first, but will gradually darken until they are black. Cut off the stem when the seeds have turned black and leave to dry. A single stem can produce over a hundred seeds, so you will never have to buy another plant again.
Another way to propagate a basil plant is by cuttings. When the main stem grows side branches, let them grow until they have 3 or 4 pairs of leaves. Cut the side branch close to the main stem and put it in clean water. Change the water every couple of days until roots start to grow. You can now plant the cutting into soil. I like this method better than growing from seeds, because it is a lot faster.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Dear Dad!
For all my growing basil on our balcony I never thought of making cutings!
Thank you so much for the information!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles
Robert, nice to see you here!
The cuttings work very nice, it’s so much faster than growing your basil from seeds!
Very nice posting on basil! Its one of my favorite herbs and so versatile. I love your blog and look forward to future posts.
Thanks Larisa!
Basil is my favorite herb as well, but it has to be fresh. Even the freshly packed basil leaves you can buy in the supermarket are nothing compared to freshly picked leaves from a plant in your window or garden.
If you want to make sure you don’t miss any future posts on this blog, please consider subscribing to free automatic updates by filling in your e-mail address at the top of the page.
I planted basil two days ago in a pot. Two seeds, about 3 inches apart (I figure one of them won’t germinate), and at about a 1/2 inch depth. Sound good? I’ll keep you posted on my progress!
Sounds like your off to a good start! I hope the two seeds isn’t all that you have planted. I normally start out with about 10 seeds. After your plants have grown a little you should give the cuttings a try. I’d love to hear how the basil works out for you.
I was wondering if you would ever be interested in becoming a featured publisher with Foodbuzz.com? If so please conctact me.