Basil is such an essential ingredient in the kitchen, you'd be mad not to have a fresh supply at home! What's more, it's really simple to grow, and thrives in most climates! It can be used as a great decoration to your dishes, as a tasty ingredient and with its attractive leaves and flowers, it looks great by itself in the garden! Why grow basil at home? Here are just a few of the reasons...
: -First off, basil is the most versatile and useful cooking herb there is! From adding a few sprigs to a chicken salad, making a delicious thai curry or making your very own tasty pesto - there are no end of tasty things you can do with basil! -If you grow your basil indoors you'll be rewarded with its natural sweet smell, that will give your kitchen a sweet fragrance.
It's also great for your outdoor garden too.
-Another great thing about basil's scent is that it helps repel pests.
If you plant it near your fruit trees for example, the basil's scent will mask the tasty smell of your fruit.
-The actual plant itself is also very pretty! I like some varieties of basil more than others - for example my personal favourite is opal basil.
This variety has deep purple flowers which look great, but others have flowers resembling tight balls or more spiky shapes..
-There's also a lot to be said for basil's traditional use as a medicine, for a wide variety of ailments.
So you can see the benefits of having your own basil at home, how do you go about growing it? First of all, basil doesn't really like the colder temperatures - so be sure to pick a sunny patch! Next you could either get a shop bought pack of seeds, or the other option is, get a box of seedlings.
Or one of the easiest methods is to simply take a cutting and plant that.
Watch out too that the weeds don't overtake the tiny seeds as they germinate, which can take several weeks! If you do use cuttings simply snip a decent sized shoot off a established plant at any point in the year, then all you do is leave the smaller leaves at the top and remove the rest.
Finally, plant the cutting in a moist pot.
Your new plant will root fairly quickly, but if you live in a hot climate try and keep it in a moist and shady spot.
It can be transferred as soon as it starts to grow again.
Aim to give the plant the most food you can, food scraps etc as the leaves will be bigger and tastier for it.
Rather than produce poor quality leaves, overfeeding basil actually causes it to thrive.
Try to give your basil lots of fertilizer, such as shop-bought liquids, kitchen scraps and natural animal fertilizer to keep the leaves growing well.
If you pick often, you should feed often! Basil actually thrives if you pamper it, which is contrary to most other kitchen herbs that tend to do poorly if you overfeed them.
Basil just can't get enough! It'll pretty much use up as much as you give it! There are a whole host of things you can feed basil, from tea bags to left over dinners, to garden waste such as mulch or you can buy various fertilizer such as manure etc.
As a rule, basil tastes the best the more its fed.
Basil has a strong and vigorous root network, so don't be put off if you don't have the best soil.
If your planting outdoors then the roots will be able to go out and find enough nutrients.
So there's no need to have the best soil quality in order to grow great basil.
Although naturally it will do the best with plenty of water and sunlight, it can cope with shade and less water.
Having said that, it will grow the best and therefore have the best flavour if given lots of sun I hope you've found this article of some use and I wish you all the best with your herb or kitchen garden!
: -First off, basil is the most versatile and useful cooking herb there is! From adding a few sprigs to a chicken salad, making a delicious thai curry or making your very own tasty pesto - there are no end of tasty things you can do with basil! -If you grow your basil indoors you'll be rewarded with its natural sweet smell, that will give your kitchen a sweet fragrance.
It's also great for your outdoor garden too.
-Another great thing about basil's scent is that it helps repel pests.
If you plant it near your fruit trees for example, the basil's scent will mask the tasty smell of your fruit.
-The actual plant itself is also very pretty! I like some varieties of basil more than others - for example my personal favourite is opal basil.
This variety has deep purple flowers which look great, but others have flowers resembling tight balls or more spiky shapes..
-There's also a lot to be said for basil's traditional use as a medicine, for a wide variety of ailments.
So you can see the benefits of having your own basil at home, how do you go about growing it? First of all, basil doesn't really like the colder temperatures - so be sure to pick a sunny patch! Next you could either get a shop bought pack of seeds, or the other option is, get a box of seedlings.
Or one of the easiest methods is to simply take a cutting and plant that.
Watch out too that the weeds don't overtake the tiny seeds as they germinate, which can take several weeks! If you do use cuttings simply snip a decent sized shoot off a established plant at any point in the year, then all you do is leave the smaller leaves at the top and remove the rest.
Finally, plant the cutting in a moist pot.
Your new plant will root fairly quickly, but if you live in a hot climate try and keep it in a moist and shady spot.
It can be transferred as soon as it starts to grow again.
Aim to give the plant the most food you can, food scraps etc as the leaves will be bigger and tastier for it.
Rather than produce poor quality leaves, overfeeding basil actually causes it to thrive.
Try to give your basil lots of fertilizer, such as shop-bought liquids, kitchen scraps and natural animal fertilizer to keep the leaves growing well.
If you pick often, you should feed often! Basil actually thrives if you pamper it, which is contrary to most other kitchen herbs that tend to do poorly if you overfeed them.
Basil just can't get enough! It'll pretty much use up as much as you give it! There are a whole host of things you can feed basil, from tea bags to left over dinners, to garden waste such as mulch or you can buy various fertilizer such as manure etc.
As a rule, basil tastes the best the more its fed.
Basil has a strong and vigorous root network, so don't be put off if you don't have the best soil.
If your planting outdoors then the roots will be able to go out and find enough nutrients.
So there's no need to have the best soil quality in order to grow great basil.
Although naturally it will do the best with plenty of water and sunlight, it can cope with shade and less water.
Having said that, it will grow the best and therefore have the best flavour if given lots of sun I hope you've found this article of some use and I wish you all the best with your herb or kitchen garden!
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