The Joys of Basil

I am such a sucker when it comes to growing and using herbs from the garden.  Not only do they taste better being home grown, but they are pretty, too.  Basils are ridiculously easy to grow and dry or freeze readily.   So, when is a good time to harvest those delectable and savory leaves?  I really don't recommend grabbing the snips and dashing out in the buff at o-dark-thirty, or in your favorite neglige and slippers, unless you are in far better shape than I am and don't mind upsetting all creatures great and small.  Plus, offering yourself as a blood sacrifice to the mosquito gods is not my idea of a fun time in the garden.  Itch itch itch.

I like waiting until the basil reaches the peak of readiness to use.   Just as the tips of the stems start budding out.  I find too, that  snipping in the early morning hours right after a nice shower the evening, or night before, washes the leaves and saves a step.  If not, a quick rinse under cold tap water and patting dry on paper towels will do the trick.

I do like drying some of my basils, in addition to freezing some in ice cubes and of course making mass quantities of pesto.  One can never have enough pesto.



Instead of drying the leaves in the oven this year, I opted to use my dehydrator.  It did a nice job of evenly drying the leaves and in a much shorter amount of time than bag drying or hanging bunches from the rafters in the attic.  I am getting too old to haul my fanny up the stairs and into the attic and I have to admit, too, there was much less mess!

I used snack sized baggies to put the dried basil into and just as a precaution to avoid any little hitchhikers that may have been present, I froze the bagged basil for 72 hours.

I look forward to having some terrific seasonings this winter!  Plus.... have you seen how high some of the grocery store herbs are getting?