Herbs, herbs, and herbs - Basil

Some of you might know that I like to cook. Nothing like having fresh herbs at your fingertips. I will share some of the herbs that I have in my yard.

I will start with Basil. I plant Basil every year. I start them from seeds. It is one of the easiest thing to grow from seeds. Sometimes, they sprout in 3 days!!!! I tried several types, but I like the ones with medium leaves, known as sweet basil, the very large leaves, known as Genovese, and the purple leaves.

I've tried several other types. The Greek Basil: very cute, and very easy to throw in a salad . The Cinnamon Basil: very good, but we did not use much. The Lemon Basil: same reason.

As you can see, I planted them, but I did not use much, as my children will not eat it. Even only planting just a few of them, I still did not eat much, only a few times I made pesto, and ate it by myself. Sometimes I put in the Tomato Sauce, but only on my plate, so the kids do not complain. However, I still love the way it looks in my yard.

My yard has a great number of slugs and snails. Two years ago, I decided to plant the Basil, and other things, in pots, closer to the kitchen. The idea is that I might be solving two problems: get to the plant easier, and have a more controlled environment to protect the plants from the slug-snails. It was a success. That is how I plant several of my herbs now.

Below is a picture of the "Purple" basil that I planted this year. I think these seeds  were mislabelled. However, you can still see that the "flowers" are purple, and the leaves have some purple traces.

Here is the Genovese.

Even not eating the Basil that much, I will keep planting them. I love the way they look in the pots.

Now, it is your turn: what do you cook with Basil?

Luiza