Basil: benefits and starts – the easiest herb to cultivate and use.

Basil is a very versatile herb which grows prolifically in a window box or in the ground with a little light and some good, moist soil. I learned that it’s easy to keep your basil supply fresh and plentiful year round.

In Hawaii, basil put in the ground tends to turn into small trees, replete with mini-woody trunks. Though we started with a single 5” high basil plant from the Kula Nursery, it quickly took root and started producing far more than we could ever use. But as time progressed, the quality of the basil began to change. What once were tender, soft leaves gave way to wrinkled and tough ones. The stalks changed too. At first the stems were soft and flexible and later hard, snapping like a dry twig in your hand.

I thought a nutrient deficiency might be the problem so went to work researching the subject. I found out it wasn’t what I thought at all.

Apparently all basil tends to have an earlier tender stage and later woody stage which is inevitable; it just depends on how fast the environmental elements effect its maturation.

 

I learned that basil does not need to be started form seed but actually propagates quickly and simply from clippings. Using the basil plant that is beginning to turn woody, clip off fresh groupings of leaves which are still tender and put in water in the window for 5-7 days. And Voila! – roots grow and it will be ready to plant.



We have had somewhere around 50 basil trees, all which originated with this one plant from the nursery. Every time ours start to turn, I just clip off the tips and start over.

Just a word of advice on this though: when you first put the starts in soil, they will droop for a few days as they adjust to being in soil. Keep them out of direct hot sun while they adjust, and they will pop back once they take root.

Our favorite thing to do with basil besides a caprese salad which requires tomatoes that we don’t have all the time, is to make pesto. We are starting to grow the garlic too, and I use macadamia nuts rather than pine nuts because I prefer the taste, and they are local. I am under the impression that everyone knows how to make pesto - but here's a basic recipe with a couple twists to experiment with, just in case:

Pesto:

Basil - two large hand full of cleaned leaves removed from stem

3/4 cup olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2-4 garlic cloves, depending on size and personal preference

1/2 cup nuts - optional, can use pine or macadamia.

1/4 cup ground Parmesan - optional, I also like to sprinkle with feta on top as an alternative

Grind it all up in the Cuisinart, and Bob's your uncle!

We also make cilantro pesto and arugula pesto by throwing in a handful of one or the other with the main recipe. Yum!