Basil
Ocimum basilicum
T
he powerful aroma from this luscious tively smooth in a food processor. I froze the
salad herb is one of the reasons I had to pesto in ice cube trays (1 tablespoon a cube) to
grow it. Then there’s that clove/anise fl avor and defrost and mix with extra-virgin olive oil and
its ease of germination and early growth in the good grated Parmesan cheese for pasta dishes.
greenhouse—although a sunny window box I use about 1 tablespoon of pesto for each por
will do just as nicely. I waited for 70ºF soil tem tion of pasta.
peratures before setting it out in raised beds. When we don’t make our own bread (which
We did a couple of EarthBoxes with four is mostly the case nowadays), we buy Health
small plants a side that eventually fi lled the Nut (whole-grain bread) and make sandwiches
boxes to overflowing. We had a warm summer, with goat cheese, basil leaves, and sun-ripened
and the basil plants became a little long-legged vine tomatoes seasoned with sea salt and freshly
and began to fl ower early. Because this means ground white peppercorns—it’s hard to imag
losing some of the volatility of the leaves, I ine anything better!
made it a daily practice to nip the flowers in the Whenever I make a vegetable stir-fry, I’ll
bud. scatter in a cupful of basil leaves just before serv
Don’t put the plants out too early, and do ing to keep their aroma intact.
give them the sunniest most sheltered spots— Unless a recipe calls for the leaves to be
both in the herb garden and around the garden sliced, as in a chiffonade (very fi nely diced),
alongside some of your edible fl owers. simply tear them apart, because the pressure of
I harvested the lot in late August and made the blade will crush the sensitive leaf, and it
up some pesto in bulk, using 2 cups basil, ¼ cup blackens quickly. Torn leaves retain their color
pine nuts, 4–6 garlic cloves, and ¼ cup grape much longer, but you still need to leave this
seed oil, which I whizzed together until rela step until the last possible moment.
262 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
