I typically sit down to write our “How to Grow” blog posts on Thursdays afternoons while my daughter is in dance class. Today, I drove right past the ballet academy, which was not my best moment of the day. The academy sits on a freeway frontage road and if you are familiar with Texas frontage roads, turning around requires making a giant circle using the turnaround lanes, which depending where you are at and the time of day it can take forever.  

Needless to say, we were quite late for dance class. As I was waiting to turn around, I complained to my daughter about the my mistake and she declared that I must have missed the turn because I thought that there was a seed sale ahead. Am I that obsessed with seeds? Who am I kidding… of course I am!

Today we are going to focus on my favorite herb to grow in the garden and judging from some of the feedback we have received in the past- lots of you do too!

Basil is a great addition to any garden. It is a fantastic beneficial companion plant and it is incredibly versatile in the kitchen!

Basil was one of the very first things that I grew. I had a small container garden on my front porch many years ago and basil was always one of my staples and still is.

Did you know that basil is actually a member of the mint family? And that gardeners all over the world have been growing basil for over 5,000 years? Pretty cool, right?

Varieties

Basil is basil when it comes to how you grow it, but there are so many varieties (between 50 and 150) that you have plenty of options to choose from! 

Most people are familiar with Italian basil varieties, which tend to be on the sweet side. The most popular of which is Genovese Basil. 

Other varieties of basil tend to take on different flavors. For example, Lemon Basil has a lemon flavor. Cinnamon Basil has a cinnamon flavor. There are also a variety of basils with monikers that reflect where they are commonly grown and thus the type of cooking it is used in. 

I grow Genovese Basil every year and am doing so again this year. I have also added a Thai Basil to my garden this year and am excited to try it out!

Growing

Basil is fairly easy to grow… the most important thing to remember is how to prune it, as that will greatly lengthen the amount of time that your basil thrives- but more on that in a minute.

Let’s start at the beginning, not the end. Basil can be started indoors or directly sown in the garden. Honestly, I have had mixed results starting basil in both locations, but I always try to get a couple of plants to grow indoors to give me a head start!

Wait until any danger of frost has passed to plant outdoors- both transplants and seeds. Basil really doesn’t like to get cold, so protect it if you have any late freezes. 

If you are planting a square foot garden, there are two schools of thought- most people say 4 per square foot, which is what I do and have no problems. Other people insist that 1 is better. I think that it depends on how much basil you want and what your personal preference is.

Water regularly and use a liquid fish fertilizer every week or so for the best results.

In hot weather, basil may begin to bolt… which is a fancy way of saying that it starts to grow flowers on the top. Trim those flowers off, because if you don’t, the plant will focus on the flowers and stop growing leaves. Plus, the leaves will start to taste bitter.

Harvest

You harvest basil by pruning your plant. In order to make sure your plant is performing its very best, it is important to prune it properly. 

The first year I grew basil, I thought that all I had to do was pluck off how many leaves I needed and that was just fine. My poor plant got skinny and stopped producing leaves before it quickly bolted. I thought that I had done something wrong with the planting, but it was really a pruning problem.

So how do you prune basil? It is quite simple, really. Look at your plant. The leaves grow in sets of two. Take a pair of sharp, clean scissors and trim the basil stem right above the set of leaves. This step will be most painful when the plant is young and small and you feel like you are chopping it in half. 

But be patient and in short order, your plant will regrow where you cut- but instead of one new stem, it will grow two! It is like magic! Pretty soon you will have a full, bushy plant and more basil than you know what to do with! 

I have included, for your visual enjoyment, an original Mariah piece of artwork. I call it- “How to Prune Basil and Win at Gardening.”

How often should you prune? Well, that depends on how fast your basil is growing, but I tend to do so every two weeks or so during most of the growing season.

Preservation

There are so many ways to enjoy basil… I look forward to the summer months where I can make my favorite fresh basil recipes- including pesto and basil cream chicken. 

One of my favorite ways to preserve basil (and one of the easiest) is to freeze it. I place as many clean basil leaves in my food processor as I can reasonably fit and add olive oil while the food processor is running until I have what resembles a chunky basil and oil soup. I place the mixture in ice cube trays, freeze, and then place in a food safe freezer container. 

During the winter, we add the frozen chunks of basil goodness to store purchase pasta sauce, homemade pasta sauce, and soup. It really adds a little special “umph” of freshness. 

Basil is also easily dried for use in any recipe calling for dried herbs. Curious about how to dry herbs and veggies from your garden? We cover that in our book Black Thumb Garden Club Workbook. Click on the link to learn more!

Fast Facts

Crop Rotation Group: Herbs

Planting Method: Both Direct Sow or Transplant works just fine.

Structural Support: None Needed

Number per Square Foot: 4

Days to Harvest: 75 days

Photo Credits: Top View Basil: Image by Konstantin Kolosov from Pixabay  

Garden Basil: Image by Jing from Pixabay 

Basil Pruning Guide: Image by Mariah Petrosino from Black Thumb Garden Club