Herbs, squashes, tomatoes and salad items are all producing nicely at the moment and finally the two heat loving basil variety has reached a decent height and I could try them out.
Basil is normally best to grow in the greenhouse but on good summers I do plant some outside too. Not these two though as they are quite slow growing and require more heat than the Sweet Genovese. I have to admit I have never grown Holy Basil before but it is really worth a try. The plant is hairy and definitely have a lower level of essential oils as the flavour is milder than the flavour of the Italian Classic basil. And the Thai Basil is the strongest basil I have ever grown. The best to use it in flavoursome stir fries and different oriental dishes.
Holy Basil is for you if you like basil but find the ordinary variety a bit strong sometimes; I have met people who thought it is a bit too much of a flavour; Holy Basil is milder, great in raw salads. And I found that more flavour stayed in the dish if I cooked the Holy Basil than of the Genovese. You can find an article about growing basil in details here.
Thai Basil is very strong and it is definitely not for me, but very pretty. And the Holy Basil is the slowest growing of the three.
