I'm afraid that there is really no way to provide enough light for basil in a sunny window. These are plants that thrive in FULL sunlight outside, and we just cannot duplicate those conditions inside without plenty of artificial lighting systems. No matter how many hours of light provided by this window, the light rays are still filtered by the glass, and no sunlight is drenching your plant from above and from the back. That explains the legginess.

You can try cutting it back just above the first couple of sets of leaves, to see if it branches out and regrows. But I'd not expect the new growth to look a whole lot better.

You should also know that most basil species can get to be 2-3 feet tall in a fairly short period of time. Residing in a 5 inch pot is not something that your plant will tolerate.

strange, I researched growing basil indoors for several hours, and everything I read said that it's not hard to grow indoors in a sunny window as long as it gets 6-8 hours of sun a day. This is the first I've seen anyone tell me it's not possible :/

I can understand the 5 inch pot thing, though. I can always get a bigger one, they're cheap.

Your 6-8 hours of sunlight will be coming through a window, so not only will some light rays be filtered, but that light will be coming from one side....not the top and not the back.

Here is a link that might be useful: growing herbs inside

for whatever its worth...

i am a novice gardener. bought a good sized (10-12 inches tall of plant) organic basil plant from whole foods at some point last fall or winter. big enough to cost seventeen bucks. i have treated it horribly. underwatering...i am truly surprised it is still alive. it in fact has tried to flower. now it is leggy as all get out, and rather unattractive, but by golly it produces enough leaves to use a lot in at least one recipe per week, or a lil in 4-5 salads per week. fish fert. all og. i dont even clean the leaves sometimes. i did let it sit in a rusty pan sometimes, but i do not rec this, im sure i ate some sort of lead or something prolly.

i live in an old house that has a window jutting out. it likes that place. water it from the bottom. get it a bigger pot. dont expect much. see what happens. maybe start w a bigger plant imo. have fun =)

good fert, water right...i see no reason you wont get something to harvest.

now a good tip would be to always taste the basil/herbs at the store BEFORE you buy. omg some of them are just awful lol

Margar02, growing herbs indoors is often discussed here - use the search utility you will see how incredibly often. And the regulars, folks that generally answer the questions here, pretty much all agree - Most every herb that you would use in your kitchen is ill-suited for "on a sunny windowsill" indoor culture. Without installing additional lighting to supplement or replace whatever "sunny window" people think will be enough for their plants, the indoor herb plants will not thrive. They may survive, at least for awhile because that is what plants do. Outdoors they have to survive the difficulties Mother Nature throws at them so not enough sun, too hot, not enough water, too much water, etc. are all tolerated on a short-term basis. But on-going conditions that are far from ideal for the plant will affect the plant's health and vitality.

You don't have to believe me. You will see it for yourself.

FataMorgana

Going back to the original post.. Unless someone has a secret I'm unaware of, you can't freeze basil leaves. I've tried, and they just turn black.

It's always hard to figure out what exactly to do with excess basil leaves. I think using your excess basil to just make pesto and freeze THAT would be the best thing probably.. But I would love to hear what others do. I hevan't tried vacuum sealing before freezing, but I doubt that would help. And I'm not much into dried herbs, so..

You freeze them in water. No black leaves then.

FataMorgana