Basil

Basil originates from India and is considered sacred. Nowadays it grows wild throughout the Mediterranean, and is widely used in Mediterranean cooking. It is also widely used in our house - my husband and I eat loads of Italian food so we use it quite a bit in our house! A packet of basil costs about 70p from the supermarket and only contains enough to use in one or two meals. One the other hand, it's really easy to grow at home and for about a pound for a packet of seeds you could be getting lovely fresh basil all year round. There are two ways of growing basil at home. The first is to grow it on a windowsill in a pot. Choose a pot about ...

~:~:~ Introduction ~:~:~ Basil is one of mine and Tim’s favourite herbs. Tim is really fussy with food and basil allows me to add flavour to his otherwise quite bland diet. Basil is also incredibly versatile and although most people would associate it with Mediterranean cuisine Basil is also used in many Asian cultures such as Thai, Chinese and Indian in fact from reading the internet a bit for research it would seem that in the US and Australia more people would associate Basil with oriental and Asian food than Mediterranean; I guess it must be a proximity thing? So let me tell you what I know about Basil. ~:~:~ Meet the Lamiaceae Family ...

Basil is an aromatic annual that reaches about two feet tall, looks like its relatives, the mint family, only with more branches and which blossoms white or purple in summer. It will grow easily from seed in well drained and composted soil and should be planted after the frosts have been. Basil's big advantage especially to the new herbal gardener is that it will grow well in a pot on the kitchen window, given light and water and even the most absent minded of us, and that includes me, will have a hard job killing this one. It is a very generous plant and once established, straight away if you buy one from the garden centre or supermarket, will allow you to pick leaves ...