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Vegetable Gardening

Too much basil?

13 years ago

Hi,

Couple of Basil is growing in Earthbox. At first this did not bother me much but now it is very big and bushy.

What to do with the excess?

Yes, I did give some to friends,family,neighbors.

Can I dry it and save it for winter?

Next season I will not grow basil in EB--lesson learnt.

Any suggestions/advice welcome. Thanks in advance.

Thanks

Anna

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Comments (14)

wordwiz
13 years ago
Anna,

E-mail me and I'll give you the addy of a lady known as the Basil Queen. She has dozens of ways to save basil, including drying, freezing, pesto and others.

Another thing you might consider: find an Italian restaurant that goes through a lot of basil and see if they will be interested in buying it. I sell it for ~ $13 per pound (cut off the stems) and last year sold nearly $140 worth - and the guy was thrilled to buy it.

It helped pay for some seeds, ferts, string for weaving tomato plants, etc.

Mike
mister_potato_head
13 years ago
I put the basil in a food grinder (cuisinart) and drizzle a little olive oil on it. Keep adding olive oil until it makes a thickish paste. Put the mixture into an old ice cube tray, freeze it. During the winter months I make Pesto with one or two basil cubes, garlic and pine nuts. Yum yum.
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Agreed with everyone else on the pesto.. or herb/oil paste, lol. I generally leave the cheese and nuts out too before freezing- because I can always add it in later if needed. I get a glut of nasturtiums every year, and every year I freeze up a goodly pound or three of nasturtium pesto, both blossom and leaf kinds.. It's darn fine with all sorts of cooking outside pasta. I've gotten to the point where I don't even try to "just freeze" anymore, because oil paste is so much better. I also make compound butters out of a lot of herbs too, including basil... around baking times of year like christmas and easter, butter goes on sale, and I stock it up and freeze it.. then all summer long, I make compound butters to keep in the freezer. Wild chives get a few pounds every spring, and salad burnet gets a pound or two around this time of year. If you are the adventurous kind.. try your hand at making basil vinegar.. or basil simple syrup. Basil syrup is awesome to drizzle over baked goods instead of a glaze. It's also good in a variety of drinks, and mixed into meat glazes.. yum!
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mauirose
13 years ago
Basil infused olive oil is great for pastas, pizzas, salads and dipping bread.

i like wordwiz's solution too!
digdirt2
13 years ago
The ice cube freezing technique comes up often on both the Herbs Forum and the Harvest Forum here. You'll find lots of additional suggestions on what to do with it all on both those forums.

Dave
susan2010
13 years ago
Let a plant go to flower (don't pick them off). The pollinators love basil flowers.
nancyjane_gardener
13 years ago
Never too much basil! I have to bribe my chiropractor with pesto! LOLOL
I also make and freeze pesto. Top with a little extra olive oil and it will keep for awhile in the freezer.
Pesto makes great gifts. I also make pesto pasta for all of the summer pot lucks with rave reviews! I top the pasta with home grown maters and everyone LOVES it! NT
ashley9597
13 years ago
I agree! Never too much basil! You can freeze the leaves whole as well. Pesto freezes beautifully. Pine nuts are rather expensive. You can substitute walnuts if you are not allergic without compromising the taste. You can dry the basil in a dehydrator, but I am not a fan of dried basil. I think it loses a lot of the flavor. I prefer just to freeze the leaves. You can also add it to spaghetti sauce to add some great flavor. Especially if you are in a hurry and have to use store bought instead of home made. You can use the whole frozen leaves for that. You can also steep the leaves in hot water to make an herbal tea or you can put the leaves in a hot bath to help you relax and de-stress. I really like Mike's idea. I am going to have to remember that...
karen99-gardener
13 years ago
The leaves can be placed on a metal cookie sheet and cooked in the oven at 250 degrees. You have to watch it, because it needs to have a small amt of green color left in the leaves. It only takes a few minutes, so you have to watch constantly. Cool the leaves and put into a ziplock bag. You can grind it up if you like it that away after it is dry. Good luck.
ga_karen
13 years ago
I have a dehydrator & dry mine for use later! It also makes great gifts that way! And cheap as I always save old spice jars to use for giving!
star_stuff
13 years ago
Yes, never too much basil! Do a 'basil' search on any cooking website for tons of recipes.

While it is true that many herbs are wonderful dried, basil is definitely not one of them.
nancyjane_gardener
13 years ago
Actually, I use it as a perfume! Nothing better than the smell of fresh basil! LOL
calliope
13 years ago
Too much basil is an oxymoron. I slip basil plants everywhere, even in my flower gardens. There is nothing nicer than brushing against it when on a walk and smelling the haunting aroma.
bluebirdie
13 years ago
Here in zone 8, I don't dry basil for winter because that's when Cilantro comes in. For fresh basil, like everyone already mentioned, pesto, sauces, salad, or just about every dish. Also try to make omellete with a cup of basil (with anything else you fancy), delicious.
bsntech
13 years ago
I've been drying all of my basil.

Call me weird, but the taste of basil leaves that are not dried almost seems like a mint leaf in a way and leaves a minty feel in the mouth.

I have a Nesco FD-80 dehydrator and just ordered four more trays - to make it max out at 8 trays total. It seems to take about 48 to 72 hours to dry basil out in the dehydrator using the recommended setting of 95 degrees.

One person mentioned to put the basil in an oven at 250 degrees. While I can't be fully sure of the source, the book that came with the Nesco dehydrator says that all herbs shouldn't be heated higher than 100 degrees. So that is why it takes so long to dehydrate the basil.

Anyways - back on track. The dried basil I then crush up and put in herb/spice containers. It isn't nearly as fine as what you buy in the store - but with the larger chunks, you can tell a huge difference between store bought and personally dried basil.

I have 15 plants and have only filled up on herb container so far. I have five ounces of basil waiting to be dehydrated now (seeing if I lay them on a counter for a few days if it reduces the dehydrating time). The kitchen smells very good with the basil lying on the tables.

Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog

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