In my personal opinion, basil is an absolute must have herb when it comes to your Summer garden. The delicious aroma alone is enough for me to never go without it. Here’s how to trim, harvest, and preserve basil!
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How to Trim, Harvest, and Preserve Basil
Basil is an absolute must have when it comes to your summer garden. I mean, the aroma alone as you walk by just sends out “I’m hungry” vibes!
I love to grow Italian basil and plant it in with my tomatoes. Hello Italian food!
There are other varieties, however, that I recently learned about. I’ve only ever grown Italian, and this year Opal. But there are others and now I need them all!
Growing Basil
When choosing what type of basil to grow, it is important to consider your growing zone. You can find your grow zone here.
Basil needs full sun and well drained soil to thrive.
I like to plant mine in with my tomatoes as they need to the same living conditions. They are great companions in the garden.
How to Trim Basil
As you are growing basil, you will notice flowers starting to bloom. You don’t want the flowers. You will want to trim back the flowers so the energy is put towards the leaves and not the flowers.
Trimming, also called pinching, the flowers is very easy to do. You will want to find the stem from which the flower is coming from and cut it.
As flowers are growing, the energy is going into growing that flower, you don’t want this. You want the energy to flow to the leaves that you want to harvest. Cutting the flowers allows this to happen.
Above, you can see the flower growing and where to cut it. You want to cut the middle stem to allow the energy to flow to the surrounding leaves.
Regularly trimming will create a bigger, bushier plant. ideally, this is what you want.
When and How to Harvest Basil
A rule of thumb for me, I like to harvest the basil when the leaves are large (pictured below).
However, the leaves can be harvested at any time.
When you harvest your basil, you can cut individual leaves off or you can cut a whole “branch” off as you do when you “pinch” the flowers.
How to Preserve Basil
There are a few ways you can preserve basil to use later on. My preference is to hang dry my basil. You can easily hang dry basil, or any herbs, by tying twine around a small bunch of basil at the stem. Then, hang the herbs on a hook in a dry location.
I enjoy hanging my herbs on a plain curtain rod over my windows that do not get direct sunlight. Over the kitchen sink, a designated herb rack, or any hook you find in a dry spot works.
Another way to dry herbs is to use a dehydrator. This is the one I have.
You could also use the lowest oven setting and dry your herbs in there. Simply line a baking sheet with parchment paper, not wax paper, and place your herbs in a single layer. Be sure to watch your herbs so that they are drying and not burning.
When your herbs are dried, place them in an airtight container. These are a great option to store dried herbs.
How to Store Fresh Herbs for Later Use
I love fresh basil, it is an absolute delight to have in the garden. Even better to see hang drying in the kitchen and then storing away in the spice cabinet.
Don’t forget to grab your garden gear at Farmers Defense! They have the best gear to protect you from the sun, scratchy plants, and more!
Until next time,
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