Posts Tagged ‘herbs’

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is a culinary herb from the family Lamiaceae. Originally native to India where it is cultivated for thousands of years. Basil grows wild now in the Mediterranean and used mainly in Italian cuisine, salads, sandwiches. The Italian tomato dishes being so popular here in the UK it is a must to grow some basil together with your tomatoes.

Sowing the basil seeds

If you want to grow the herbs on your windowsill the best time is to sow is March. If you planning to transplant the plants outside later on or if you will grow the basil in an unheated greenhouse then wait until late April.
Sow the basil seeds into small, about 7 cm, pots or a seed tray or into bigger pots if you do not want to transplant them later on; 0.5cm deep. Keep the compost moist by watering from underneath, so the tiny seeds and seedlings will not be disturbed. Keep them at a temperature of 15 Celsius and above.

Transplanting the basil seedlings

When the plants are large enough to handle, 3-4 inches tall, you can prick them out carefully and transplant them into bigger pots, or why not try to grow them in a nice windowbox. Creating a herb windowbox will add a nice scent and a useful feature to your patio area.

Growing basil successfully require plenty of sunshine and warmth. If you plant the basil outside make sure that you choose the sunniest location in your garden. The plants like a bit of dry condition and lots of sunshine. This will help to bring out the best flavour possible from your basil plants.
Growing them around the tomato plants is a common practice by many gardener. Leave about 10cm between the plants, so they have plenty of space to mature.

If the basil plants wilted from lack of water they will recover fairly quickly when watered properly. Make sure that the leaves do not get much water as water on the leaves can encourage fungal diseases to appear on the plants.

Harvesting

You can start using the basil leaves quite early, gently pinch the biggest leaves when the plants are about 15cm tall. Do not cut the whole stem as this will stop the plant growing. When the plants grow to 20-30cm tall you can pinch out the growing tip to encourage the plants to grow more bushy. Remove any flowers as they appear, this will help the plants to concentrate their energy on growing more delicious leaves.

The different blend of essentials oils (most important is the eugenol in the sweet basil) are responsible for the different taste of the many basil varieties. The most common Mediterranean variety is the Sweet Genovese.

Most of us enjoy the basil in tomato based Italian dishes. Add the fresh leaves only at the last moment as the cooking will destroy the flavour of the basil. The dried basil looses most of its flavour too, if you want to store basil leaves your best choice is freezing. Just place a bunch of leaves into a small plastic bag and pop it into the freezer.
If you have a sunny windowsill or a heated greenhouse you can enjoy this lovely culinary plant, called by many as the king of herbs, from March to October.