Grow your own basil and get a taste of summer
Don’t you just love the taste and smell of basil? When I smell basil I think of summer, pizza and juicy tomatoes with mozzarella and olive oil – lazy days with friends and family!
Basil is used in kitchens all over the world, it is very easy to use as its flavour complements almost all vegetables, meat, cheese, eggs and – just continue to add your favourite dish!
You can buy basil either fresh or as a dry spice – but you should try to grow it yourself, nothing beats the taste, smell and pride of fresh, home grown basil! You can grow it as a microgreen in 10-14 days or you can grow it as a fully grown plant in a couple of months – maybe from your Sprout Pencil? You can find our Sprout Pencil here.
How to grow basil
The plant thrives in a hot, sunny environment and does not tolerate frost. It can be grown indoors most of the year, or in a greenhouse in the season. At temperatures around 15-25°, it takes 10-20 days for the seed to germinate.
How to sow
- Use a good soil or coco coir as growth substrate
- Choose a flower pot with drainage holes
- Water the soil, it must me moist, but not soaking wet
- Sow the seeds and cover them/the capsule with a thin layer of soil
- Eventually place a plastic bag whit the corners cut of over the flower pot to increase humidity and ease germination (remove it when the seeds have germinated)
How to water
- Check every day that the soil is moist and water from beneath. Watering from beneath is when you pour water in the saucer and allows the plant to soak up water. Fill up with water and
- wait for 10 minutes. If all the water is soaked up, add some more and wait again for 10 minutes. The left over water is discharged.
How to care
- Place the flower pot in a light place, but avoid direct sun all day, as this may burn the small seedlings
- When the plant is growing remember to fertilize (we recommend to use an organic fertilizer and to follow the instructions on the package)
- Big enough for harvest? Always cut the stem above a pair of leaves, as this will encourage the plant to produce more leaves. See the illustrated picture below.
- If the plants start to flower, the quality of the leaves will go down, so pinch them off – they are also edible.
How to use basil
Basil is one of our most widely used herbs. It is the aromatic leaves that are used. They taste great fresh as the green touch on your dish, but the leaves can also be dried. If you cook fresh basil leaves the taste will almost disappear. Use it in homemade pesto, for pasta and tomato recipes, sandwiches, soups and salads.
Basil is particularly good in combination with tomato: try for example the famous insalata Caprese made with sun-ripened tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil and fruity olive oil.
Did you know?
- Basil has been grown at Templars in India for more than 5000 years and is used for ceremonies
- Basil is the plant of love in Ukraine and parts of the old USSR
- Basil is said to be good against colds, can be used as a pain killer and ease stomach problems
- If the soil dries out, the leaves of basil can be bitter
- You can use basil leaves for tea
Have fun with it – and make trees sprout
Sprouting greetings
Green Thumb by Sprout
Helle Haugaard
Indlægget Grow your own basil blev vist første gang den Sproutworld.