Growing Basil: From Seed to Harvest

To me, the sweet yet spicy aroma of basil just screams ‘summer’ to me. It’s such a staple in our household all year long. Imagining a garden without basil is like imagining a lake without water – it just doesn’t make sense, does it??

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Today I’m going to dive into the routine I take when it comes to growing basil here in zone 5b/6a. As always, adjust this advice to your own growing zone, whether that means adding a few more weeks of harvest time or subtracting how many growing days are in your season.

There are so many varieties of basil – don’t just limit yourself to the kind you’d typically find in your grocery aisle! Next year, I have a goal to grow every type of basil I have in my current seed collection. That’s 7 varieties!

Starting From Seed

Basil isn’t particularly picky when it comes to early stage care. Start it as you would most veggie plants, with ample time before your last spring frost date for it to get a head start. We start ours about 6 weeks before last spring frost. If you live in a warmer climate than we do, you may not need to start your seeds as early. But with our variable weather here in Colorado (we’ve gotten snowstorms in June!) it’s important I give my plants a strong start before facing the world.

Start your seeds in light, fluffy soil. I like mixing up a big bowl of seed starting soil with some water to pre-moisten it. I’ve had great germination rates doing this.

Your seeds do not need light to germinate, but they do need heat. To improve germination, ensure your seeds are in a warm area in your home or greenhouse. You can do this by placing them on a heat mat and/or covering them to create a greenhouse effect. My favorite way to do this on the cheap is to use casserole trays from the dollar store.

Basil in the Garden

Once you have hardened off your seedlings and all danger of frost has passed, go ahead and plant your basil outside. Plant them in loose, fertile soil. I always give my garden a healthy topdressing of compost prior to the growing season to give my transplants a boost. Plant your basil plants 2 to 3 per square foot of garden space. Planting them in a group will give a nice appearance of a bushy plant, which we’re all for!

Plant them in a location that gets plenty of sunshine – they love them some sunshine. They also love and need plenty of water, so lay a healthy layer of mulch around them after planting to reduce the need to water often.

Basil is a fantastic companion plant to many other veggies, so consider adding it to your bed of tomatoes, for instance. It has such a strong fragrance that pests tend to avoid it, which is a help to those delicious and tempting tomatoes nearby!

Basil also grows well in containers, including those indoors. If you are limited to an apartment windowsill, have no fear! You can still grow your own fresh basil. It is fairly forgiving given its basic needs are met.

To promote a healthy, bushy looking basil plant, regularly pinch them.

What?

Don’t worry. Unlike people, they’ll thank you later. Once the seedlings have several sets of ‘true’ leaves, carefully pinch off the top portion and the top couple sets of leaves. You will be left with a ‘V’ with the top gone and two leaves on top. In the tiny space between the leaves and stem, you’ll see new growth starting in no time, creating a big bushy bunch of basil! Doing this often will promote a lot of new growth and a lot of yummy basil.

Basil in the Kitchen

It’s finally time to start harvesting your basil! Pinch off sections like mentioned above and read on for ways to preserve your harvest. If you do not have plans to preserve it, be sure to place it in a bowl of water and place it in the fridge right away to keep it fresh.

My two go-to ways of preserving my basil harvest are probably not shocking: dehydrating and making pesto. They’re both incredibly easy to do, but both require quite a bit of basil to get an amount worth your time, so plan accordingly! Check out my ‘Everything But the Kitchen Sink Pesto’ recipe to make and freeze some of your delicious harvest.

To dehydrate basil, simply wash the leaves, dry them thoroughly, and place them in a single layer in your dehydrator or on a screen in a protected area. Use your instruction manual to evaluate how long to dehydrate them for, but in general, you want to run them long enough to make the leaves brittle without any bend. Place them in an airtight container and you’ll have delicious dehydrated basil until next summer.

What are your favorite ways to use basil? Do you have a favorite variety you can’t resist growing every year? Do tell and share in the comments. As always, I enjoy hearing from you.

Until next time,

Becca