Growing Basil

Genovese basil in the garden 2010.

Basil is one of my favorite herbs.  Thanks to enthusiasts who are most likely chefs as well as gardeners, there is a basil out there for just about every taste you could imagine.  Being an annual, basil grows well as a indoor plant as well as a summer grown garden herb.  Last year, I only grew Genovese basil and thanks to the huge amount of ravenous slugs and cold weather, my little plant did not grow to much larger that what is shown above.


From left to right:  Genovese basil, Spicy Globe (Greek) basil, Siam Queen Thai basil

This year (2011), I am trying three varieties that are pictured above.  Genovese basil is a staple in Italian cuisine and is also the most commonly found variety.  It produces large leaves that have the classic basil flavor.  Spicy Globe, aka Greek basil, is a smaller leaved variety that I have never tried before.  It grows much more compact and the leaves are much more pungent in flavor.  Thai basil is one of my favorites for Asian cooking.  It is very strong tasting and does wonders in dishes with curry and chiles.  The plant itself is also very ornamental with its dark purple stems and darker green leaves.


Planted basil seeds with plastic sandwich bags over the tops.

Using the technique for planting the bell pepper seed, I filled three containers with potting soil and then moistened the soil before planting the seed.  Basil seed is smaller than pepper seed, so I surfaced sowed the seed and very gently pushed the seeds barely into the soil.  I planted 6-7 seeds per container.  My goal is to keep the basil plants in containers rather than eventually planting them in the garden.  As the plants grow, I will pot them up into larger sizes to keep the plants healthy and productive. 

Recap:  Basil seed of three different varieties planted on May 23, 2011.  Estimated time to germination: 5-10 days. 

For more information, read this article:  How to successfully grow basil

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