Planting Basil
Cook with Basil
Do you enjoy cooking? If so, maybe you should consider growing basil in your garden! Basil is an herb that is commonly used to garnish dishes. You can either grow basil indoors in a container garden, or you can grow basil outdoors. Here is how you can grow basil in your outdoor garden.
There are many types of basil, from hot and spicy, to holy basil that Hindus use in their worship. There is even cinnamon basil with a sweet smell and taste of cinnamon. Thai basil for a sweet taste and spicy basil for a hot taste. There is even a lemon basil with a lemon taste.
And of course there is the all time favorites Italian and Genovese basil.
Grow it, chop it up and add it to your cooking.
Planting
When it comes to planting basil, if you are going to plant the basil in your outside garden, it’s best to start the seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last spring frost. While your seeds are starting indoors, pick out a location in your garden that receives at least 6-8 hours of full sun on a daily basis. You also want to make sure the soil is moist and well-drained.
After the last spring frost, you can now plant the seedlings in the ground ¼ inch deep. If you are directly planting seeds into the ground, you can plant them in the ground ¼ inch deep as well. Make sure before you plant the seeds or seedling, that the soil is at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If not, you could risk not having any basil! Also if you plan on using the basil for cooking, you’ll want to make sure you plant the seeds in clean soil without any fertilizers that contain harmful residues.
When you plant the basil seeds or seedling in the ground, be sure to space the basil plants 10-12 inches apart to prevent the roots of the basil plants from interfering with each other. Basil plants typically grow 12-24 inches in height. Once flower heads start to appear on the plants, pinch them out in order to continue the growth of the basil leaves.
Care
Make sure the soil is moist. If you live in a hot area, use mulch around the basil plants to keep the soil moist. During dry periods in the summer, feel free to water the basil plants as much as possible.
After 6 weeks, pinch off the center shoot of the plant to prevent any early flowering. If flowers do grow, cut them off so the leaves on the basil plants will continue to grow.
Be sure to harvest your basil plants before cold weather occurs so as to not lose any of your crop.
To find out more information on basil plants and other herbs visit David's Garden Seeds and Products.com.
