BASIL - THE KING OF HERBS
Holy Basil
 Holy
or sacred basil is revered by the Hindu people who grown it around
their temples. It has a musky fragrance similar to cloves. Although
some people find its aroma and taste appealing, others find both
unpleasant. Use the textured leaves fresh in salads and other
cold dishes.
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Sweet Basil
 Sweet
basil is an important culinary herb, distinguished by its intense
flavor and sweet scent. It produces an abundance of large leaves
throughout its growing season. Used extensively in salads, tomato
dishes and vinegar's, sweet basil is the major ingredient in pesto,
a flavorful green Italian sauce.
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Lemon Basil
 With
its strong spicy lemon fragrance and tart flavor, lemon basil
is an outstanding plant for flavoring food and for adding aroma
to the garden. Because it grows compactly, consider planting lemon
basil along paths where it can be brushed to release scent.
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Dark Opal
 A
decorative variety of sweet basil, 'Dark Opal' is cultivated mainly
for its colorful purple foliage. It has all the culinary uses of
green basil and is a wonderful choice for coloring vinegar's, giving
them deep pink to red tints.
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Spicy Global Basil
 A
dwarf variety of sweet basil, spicy global is a compact, globe-shaped
plant with leaves that make an excellent container plant and a pretty
border plant. The flavor is good and the yellow color and lovely
fragrance will add drama to herb vinegar's and when used for garnishing.
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Thai Basil
 A
native of Asia, Thai basil adds an anise-like flavor to many traditional
Chinese and Thai dishes. Try it as an exotic touch to any cuisine,
including Italian tomato based dished, poached pears, baked apples,
and melon salads.
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Basil is a heat-loving, aromatic annual easily grown from seed. Seeds
can be started indoors and the seedlings transplanted or sown outdoors
after the last frost when daytime temperatures reach 60 F or 10 C. Grow
basil outdoors in a sunny, protected area in rich, well-drained soil mixed
with well-rotted manure or compost, or in containers indoors and out.
Seed germination occurs in about five to seven days. To avoid damping
off, a fungus growth that can destroy the seedlings, keep the soil evenly
but barely moist and allow air to circulate freely. Seedlings can be transplanted
after they have four sets of leaves.
Although basil can be grown for its ornamental value, it is most often
grown for its flavorful leaves. To encourage fullness and a substantial
leaf harvest, pinch and prune basil leaves every two to three weeks. Feeding
the plants with a complete fertilizer will also encourage growth, but
may alter the flavor of leaves. If flowers are allowed to form, they will
set seed and inhibit leaf growth.
To harvest leaves, cut whole branches or sprigs before flower buds open.
Most basil leaves can be eaten fresh from the plant or stored via drying,
freezing, or in vinegar. Oil-stored leaves may blacken, but they will
keep their flavor for several months.
The French call basl the herb royale. The Greek name for it means king.
Ancient Greek and Roman physicians thought that a good crop of basil was
wrought only if the seed sowing was accompanied by curses and shouts.
Thus the French idiom semer le basilic, sowing the basil, which means
to be raving mad.
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