During the last couple of days, I asked several people: "When I mention the herb basil, what country do you think of first?" Italy and France were the top answers...what do you think? To my great surprise and to the surprise of all that I talk to, the native home of basil is India and the Middle East. Yes, sweet basil is native to countries that are known for hot and spicy foods, who would think that? So let me tell you how we got this wonderful herb into North America. Spice traders brought it
out of India in the 16th century while selling spices to the Mediterranean countries. It was brought to America with the early European settlers like the Pilgrims and those that followed to our shores.
Basil has a wonderful history and great lore. With this the start of Lent, you might like to know it was said to have grown around the tomb where Christ was placed after his death on the cross and started to grow after his resurrection.
Some Greek Orthodox churches use it to prepare their holy water and pots of basil are often seen at the base of their altars.
On the other extreme both Greeks and Romans believed that they should "curse" as they sowed basil seed in their gardens
to have better germination. (My father did that when he planted radishes, as they would not grow for him for some reason
and only produced foliage--no radish globe roots ever developed. So, every Father's Day I always gave him a big bunch of fresh picked radishes from my garden and I can still see the big smile on his face.) Western Europe thought the basil belonged to the Devil and used it to keep witches from their homes. I just like it in fresh salads and use it often when I cook, the hell with the Devil. He can get his own--but not from my garden.
If you love basil as much as I do, always start the plant from seed indoors in pots and transplant to the garden when the soil warms up. I start my seedlings in mid-April to set out in mid-May. If you want to plant your seed directly into the garden, wait until the soil has warmed up or the cold soil will limit your seed germination. Unlike most other seedlings, basil has a taproot and does not transplant well as individual seedlings.
When you start seedlings indoors, use a sterile seed starter soil and keep the soil moist but never wet as basil will have problems with germination and has an additional problem called "damping-off," causing young seedlings to rot at the soil
line, fall over, and die. Also never water your seedling late in the day when in pots as wet feed at night will encourage
root rot problems. In the garden it is OK to water late in the day because of good drainage but wet foliage will encourage
leaf eating insects like slugs to feed on them, so get your watering done by mid-day so the foliage and the garden soil has had time to dry up.
Your garden soil should be well drained and never have standing water. It should be rich and fertile for the best plant growth, so be sure to condition the soil before planting seeds or setting out potted seedling into the garden. Basil loves animal manure, well-seasoned compost and if you can add seaweed kelp when planting, you will be in for all the basil leaves
you can pick. Now select a location in your garden that get plenty of sunlight during the day and is sheltered from the wind. This will prevent the plant from having brown edges on the foliage if the weather gets hot and the soil dries out around it.
Plant in-between peppers, rows of lettuce, or even in planters with other types of herbs.
The main thing to remember is to pick basil often and prevent it from flowering or the foliage will become bitter tasting
and the plant will become woody and stop producing new foliage. Pinch your plant every time you go into the garden
and eat the wonderful tasting foliage right there in the garden if you don't need it for cooking. I will say it again: flowering
basil will spoil the taste of the plant and stop foliage production, so keep picking off those flower buds as they develop. All basil plants are annual and must be replanted in the spring.
Fertilize every other week with Rooting and Blooming fertilizer or Neptune harvest fish and sea fertilizer. If you want to stay organic, use compost tea made with your compost and water. One last thing: basil is the most popular and widely grown of the cooking herb both indoors and in the garden today. Basil comes in many heights, shapes, colors, and flavors so let me give you a few examples of what you will find in the seed rack or in the mail order catalogs.
Sweet Basil is number one! It will grow to 18 inches tall and just as wide. It has a wonderful strong sent to the leaves and is best used in salads, pesto, and of course in pasta sauce. The leaves are medium to deep green, smooth, shiny, oval in
shape and the leaf will often curl under on the edges giving it a rounded appearance.
'Dark Opal' Basil has wonderful shiny purple foliage, is flavorful, and is a clean-looking plant. Grows 12 inches tall and
just as wide. Great for salads and gives the salad great color along with taste. Gives the herb garden color with its
foliage and it also has a bright cerise-pink flower--showy.
'Purple Ruffles' Basil: Another purple leaf variety but has larger leaves that are crinkled and ruffled looking--and add
character. The leaf edge will curl and this plant will become bushier growing in your garden. Good eating and a wonderful garnish for all dishes you make. The foliage has more red in it and is not as dark purple as the 'Opal' basil.
'Cinnamon' Basil has a wonderful olive green leaf with tinges of purple on it. This variety is best known for the wonderful cinnamon-scented foliage when rubbed or crushed. The foliage is spicier tasting than sweet basil and is also great for spicy dishes and salads of fresh greens to bring out flavor. It will grow 18 inches tall and has clean-looking foliage.
'Green Ruffles' Basil has wonderful light green foliage that almost looks like mint. The plant has larger leaves than sweet
basil and they are crinkled, curled and ruffled all at the same time--showy when planted with the other types of basil.
It has a spicy taste and is wonderful in salads and all types of cooking.
Lemon Basil has smaller leaves that are lighter green in color, narrower, and sometimes almost yellow. The foliage has a wonderful smell and flavor of lemon when used in salads or cooking.
Greek Basil has the smallest leaves of all; there is no chopping needed, just add to your salads or cooking. It grows very compact and bushy--under 12 inches tall and wide, almost like a shrub. Great texture for your garden of assorted basil
plants for all your cooking needs. Enjoy!
