About Basil
Basils are annuals with toothed, pointed-oval leaves. Basils must be grown under cover or in warm position in colder regions. Basils of the Family Lamiaceae (Labiatae) are low-growing plants.
Basils are cultivated as a culinary herb, condiment or spice. They are a source of essential oil for use in foods, flavors, and fragrances. The green aromatic leaves are used in salads and can be used fresh or dried to add flavors or spices in stews, vegetable, poultry, meat, vinegars, pesto and pasta dishes.
Gardening/Planting/Care:
Prepare soils well in advance, preferably during fall. Remove all weeds that may compete with the soil nutrients. Basils are susceptible to frost and cold-temperature injury. They require full sun and well-drained soils so that they will grow healthy and vigorous.
Basil should be grown in a position that receives a good amount of sunlight - around 6-8 hours a day. Basil can be grown indoors on a sunny windowsill or outdoors in containers or soil. If growing outside try and position the Basil in a sheltered spot that avoids cold winds.
Basils can tolerate slightly acidic soils. If the pH is lower than 6.5, add a dressing of lime when preparing the soil.
Basil likes a fertile soil that has been welll dug to allow good soil air circulation. Introducing well rotted organic compost or manure into the soil a month or so before sowing will help this.
Aside from its culinary use, basils have medicinal uses. Basils have been known to treat headaches, coughs, diarrhea, constipation, stomach aches, worms, warts and kidney malfunctions.
Basil can be grown in a variety of situations. You can have a separate herb garden that does not require a lot of space. You can also grow them in pots placed on kitchen windowsills for easy picking when cooking. Basils can also be grown in hanging baskets or plastic pails. Almost any container is suitable provided there are drainage holes. Furthermore, container-grown herbs may be planted throughout the year, but the best time is during spring.
To sow basil seeds in containers, first tap the seeds from a fold of paper onto firmed medium. Lightly cover with sieved medium and keep moist at a minimum temperature of 70 degrees F (21 degrees C). Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, carefully lift them with a widger, holding them by the leaves, not by the stems to prevent damage. Prick out seedlings individually into cell packs of firmed soil mix, then keep moist in a sunny, well ventilated place. Plant them out after frost danger or grow them in containers under cover.
Make sure to water regularly and allow for water to drain, especially in potted plants. In planting beds, add mulch to prevent moisture from escaping.
Harvesting & Storage:
Basil is a pick and come again crop. It is best to pick a few leaves off a number of plants than picking all the leaves off one plant. Harvest the top most leaves first. Basil will grow all year round indoors but outdoor plants should be dug up and brought indoors before the first fall frosts if you want to extend the plants growing season into the winter.
Pick basil leaves when young during summer. Freeze, dry or use to flavor herbs or vinegar right after picking or pack in jars of oil to preserve them.
Diseases:
Basil can help to discourage the fruit fly. Basil is often a target of slugs.
Companion Planting:
Planting basil near tomatoes has been proven to enhance the tomatoes' flavor and quality.
Cooking/Culinary:
Basil is commonly used fresh in cooked recipes. In general, it is added at the last moment, as cooking quickly destroys the flavor. The fresh herb can be kept for a short time in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or for a longer period in the freezer, after being blanched quickly in boiling water. The dried herb also loses most of its flavor, and what little flavor remains tastes very different, with a weak coumarin flavor, like hay.
Basil is one of the main ingredients in pesto—a green Italian oil-and-herb sauce. The Chinese also use fresh or dried basils in soups and other foods. In Taiwan, people add fresh basil leaves to thick soups. Basil (most commonly Thai basil) is steeped in cream or milk to create an interesting flavor in ice cream or chocolates (such as truffles). The leaves are not the only part of basil used in culinary applications; the flower buds have a more subtle flavor and they are edible.
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Citation:
http://www.gardenguides.com/441-basil-ocimum-basilicum.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil
http://www.gardeningpatch.com/herbs/growing-basil.aspx
http://www.easytogrowherbs.com/Grow-Basil.html
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VI. Plant Diseases
V. The Fundamentals of Foraging
IV. Bee Balm (Plant Profile)
III. Leaf Terminology
II. Flower Terminology
I. General Terminology