porkster, I LOVE the photo of the trays of basil in the kitchen! What an image of plenty.

I'm jealous---I had a stingy basil harvest this year (only three plants that I didn't get in the ground until early August; they did their best, but there's only so much they can do in two months....).

Didn't have enough parsley, either. I never seem to have enough parsley. I think next year I'm going to do like the basil and put several plants in the ground as well as having one in a pot just outside the kitchen door.

Got lots of oregano, though. And lemon balm! Whoo-eee. And that's just from pots.

Zabby

I just harvested the rest of a basil plant last night in anticipation of a frost coming before too much longer. I had left it unattended at my boyfriend's place so the leaves were huge and so strong-tasting they smelled like licorice, but they made a nice mellow pesto.

In case anyone's interested...I made the sauce ready to use (basil + garlic + cheese + pine nuts + oil) and froze it smushed flat in a plastic bag. Break off a chunk, microwave it, add a spoonful of pasta water, and toss with pasta. I blanched the basil first to help it stay green, which may also have helped mellow the strong flavor.

Melissa

I loved the pics, too. Sorry to hear about these lousy harvests. Everyone seems to talk about single plants. A few years ago I started buying 10 cent packets of seed at Walgreens (sweet basil) and plant about half of one every year near my tomatoes. It is amazingly easy to grow from seed. The tomatoes love them, sometimes the basil even flavors them, I think, and I have enough seed to have a "row" several feet long. Most of it goes to waste, of course, but there's enough to have a "bouquet" in the kitchen most of the time, lots to give away, and plenty to dry for me.

Its amazing how much they shrink when dried. :) It sure did smell up the house for days, mmmm, what a nice aroma! I cooked some chicken a week later in the oven and the basil smell was still in the oven. Yum. :)

I think the basil helped keep bugs away from everything planted near it. I never saw bugs on the basil! :)
Thanks for the comments.

Porkster, Basil is the hardest thing I grow to keep the bugs out of...... Jap beetles, grasshoppers and leafhoppers ate the crap out of mine.

Still had more than I and my neighbors and friends could use, but got tired of seeing the chewed up leaves.

Keith

Bugs love it here too. Quite the little gourmets, they are.

Carol

I harvested my basil last night because we're supposed to have a freeze tonight. The freeze forced me to do it; it's been on my to-do list for weeks! Had to scramble to get it done before dark, though. Maybe that will teach me for next time, but I doubt it.

My plants did pretty well this year, despite neglect and a grasshopper onslaught. Been picking some throughout the summer, but last night harvested a large garbage bag full, which was great, but then we had to put it up!

DH helped me, thank goodness. We washed it, plucked off the leaves and then whirred it in the food processor.
I froze most of the chopped basil in ice cube trays or muffin tins, but I did make some into a big batch of pesto.

I left some in the garden in case the freeze passes us by, but we have plenty for winter use now.

I second (third, fourth) those who said to grow it from seed. So easy, and I think those plants do better than the purchased ones. It also roots easily, so if you don't have the option of growing from seed, buy a healthy plant and take cuttings, root them in water and pot them up!

Leigh

We pack fresh basil into gallon jugs of vinegar and store in basement for 6months or longer. The basil flavors the vinegar wonderfully and you can use it in anything you would use vinegar in. Nothing like a basil vinegarette in the middle of winter to remind you of summer.

kendra