Start Your Herb Garden by Growing Basil
If you’re thinking of growing an herb garden its got to include basil. No herb garden could be considered complete without this attractive and useful herb. It’s the first herb I grew when I started herb gardening many years ago (mainly because I use so much of it in my cooking), and my herb garden today wouldn’t be the same without it. Since I started growing basil I have learned that it’s not only a key ingredient of many excellent (even famous!) food recipes, but it can also be used as a tonic, an aid to digestion and for aromatherapy.
In this article I will:
- Introduce you to some of the different types of basil
- Provide some simple instructions on how to grow basil from seed
- Advise you on harvesting and storing your basil
- Suggest some ways of using basil around the home.
The Main Types of Basil
Basil, like a number of the well-known herbs frequently found in the kitchen, has a long history. It has its origins in India, where it was regarded as a holy plant. This can probably be explained by the intense almost mystical smell that it has when concentrated into an essence (when the oil from the plant is dissolved in alcohol).
There are lots of different sorts of basil, but the four varieties of basil you are likely to come across and might want to grow are:
1. Broad leafed green basil (see picture) which has large green leaves and white flowers.
2. Dark opal basil which has crinkled leaves and pale pink flowers
3. Lemon basil which has aromatic, scented leaves and white flowers
4. Sweet basil (the variety used in Italian cooking) which has white flowers and a clove-like smell.
It’s not difficult to buy different varieties of basil plant. Any good garden center or nursery is likely to have a selection of types. But it’s also very straightforward to grow basil from seed.
Growing Basil – Seeds and Materials
Basil can either be grown in pots and containers on your patio, or if your intention is to start a herb garden, amongst your vegetables or flowers. It’s an annual plant, so it must be grown from seed each year. The seed isn’t difficult to get hold of. Most seed merchants have a range of different varieties of basil seed to choose from. And if you do buy seed I recommend that you grow several varieties in order to find the ones you like. If you don’t want to do this just buy common basil.
After you have purchased your seeds you’ll also need to get hold of or buy:
- A small bag of soil-less growing medium to sow your seeds in
- Some seed trays. I prefer the ones that are divided into small compartments and have a plastic cover
- A watering can with a very fine sprinkler attachment
- A quantity of small (3 or 5 inch) plastic flower pots to plant your basil seedlings in
Five Steps to Creating Your Herb Garden
I said above that basil isn’t a difficult plant to grow. It isn’t providing you follow a few simple steps:
Step 1
- Fill your seed trays with the compost
- Water the seed trays (but not too much)
- Place several seeds in each cell of the seed tray
Step 2
- Cover your seed trays with a later of very fine soil-less compost (Don’t bury seeds too deep)
- Spray or water the trays lightly with water again, and then put the plastic covers on
- If you have different varieties of basil label the seed trays with the appropriate names
Step 3
- Put some black polythene or newspaper over the trays (this will help germination)
- Place the trays on your window-shelf or in a warmish outhouse (make sure the temperature is above 5 degrees centigrade)
- Keep the trays moist
Step 4
- When seeds have germinated (3 – 4 days) remove the black polythene/ newspaper covering
- Put the trays in a light place (but not direct sunlight)
Step 5
- Transplant the seedlings into plastic pots when they are about 2 inches tall.
- Place the pots in a light ventilated area and water them regularly
- Replant the basil in larger pots or in your herb garden when they are 3/ 4 inches tall and the weather is warm enough (try not to touch the leaves too much when you do this).
When you are starting a herb garden and growing a herb like basil, it’s important to remember that basil, like many other herbs, likes a little moisture and plenty of sunshine. Keep your basil plants under these conditions and they will thrive and produce an ongoing crop of delicious fresh basil leaves.
Watch out for plant diseases. If the leaves of your basil wither and turn brown or spotty, there’s not much you can do about it. Throw the affected plant away quickly so that it doesn’t pass its illness on to the other plants and spoil your harvest of basil leaves.
Harvesting & Storing Your Basil
Don’t let your basil leaves get too big and course. Harvest the young fresh leaves as they are produced. Also, to prevent the plants from growing too fast, nip out the flowers when they appear. If you do this you will be able to enjoy your basil all through the summer months. You should be able to harvest large crops of leaves during the growing season, and because of this you will find that on occasions during the year you have almost more basil than you can deal with. However, don’t leave the leaves on the plant to grow large and course. Harvest them and store or preserve them.
There are several ways of storing/preserving basil. A common one is to paint the leaves with olive oil and freeze them in a bag. Another is to layer the leaves in olive oil in a big jar along with a little salt. With either of these methods you can take out leaves as you need them (they will store well like this for about six months).
When I have got lots of basil I use it to make pesto sauce which I then freeze and use in my favorite recipes throughout the year. As an alternative you can use your extra basil to prepare basil essence, which has a beautiful smell and can be used to sooth aches and pains.
There are lots of uses for basil which will enable you to enjoy the pleasures from this herb all through the winter. I recommend that you carry out some research to find out more about these different uses.
Happy herb gardening,
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