I wish, I could share mine. I bought a plant for $3.99 back in May.

Look at what it looks like now:

{{!gwi}}

Glenda, it is growing on my balcony!

Beautiful, Moni!

Do you dry yours?

Not much this year. Usually yes. Should have taken a picture of my daughters plant. It is HUGE in comparison. We have been cutting hers back, hang the stems up using some string, and once dry just slip the leaves off.

Works great.

If you have any left over, just hang it off your kitchen cabinet door handles, to dry.

:)

Moni

I can understand why they are expensive.
Many of mine that I have had for several years just shriveled and disappeared.

I do have basil equal to Moni's, oregano and some mints left. At one time I probably had 25 different ones.

We have an old weber grill that I made into an herb garden last year. This year DH tried to grow some from seed, but we have such a short grow season, I didn't think he would get much. He didn't. I got full grown plants at Trader joes in June when the last of the snow was gone, for 2.99 each. We got 3 of them. The grill is full..... 22 inch grill FULL of basil. We dry it and freeze it when it starts getting cold. So far, we have some most nights. Tomatoes, broiled in the oven with basil and mozzerella cheese on top.

Okay, this is timely for me. I harvested my basil plant at the community garden today. It was waist high and some of it went to seed. I went out to dinner and a movie so I stuck it in a pot of cold water. How do you prepare it for freezing ? If I wanted to dry it, I'd hang it upside down in the attic? I think I like the freezing better. I like fresh herbs rather than dried. Then I'm going to dig up the plant and keep it over winter in my greenhouse window.

lily316: I freeze some of my basil every summer to use in cooked dishes throughout the other three seasons. This is how I do it: Wash the basil, separate leaves from stems, and lay out to dry on towels. Stack about 8 - 10 leaves together, roll up like a cigar, wrap in plastic wrap, then store all the little packages in a freezer container or bag. When I need it for a recipe, I thinly slice the rolled basil while still frozen. I find the frozen basil is better than dried.

I still have plenty of basil growing in a pot on my patio. Used some (lots) Friday night in a vegetable pasta sauce-tomatoes (also from my garden), roasted peppers (store bought), lots of basil and cheese.

Thanks Toby..I will do it this afternoon.

It has been so hot (and dry) here in Houston that all our potted herbs have died.

Glenda is correct, they sure are expensive. We found a very large bunch at the Hong Kong Market for less than $2.00! That was an excellent price, and made for very good pesto! So, check out your local markets, if you are fortunate enough to have them!

We still have basil, sorrel and parsley but the dill has all gone to seed. Out here, the basil needs to grow in partial shade. The surprise this year, was that we had volunteer tomatoes that were large yellow heirloom tomatoes. They grew in the front yard next to my roses. Luckily I don't spray or use systemic on the roses. We must have picked 50 tomatoes from that one bush, I think they were lemon boy. My 3 yr. old twin grandchildren were throwing the spoiled tomatoes last year so that must be how I got volunteers this year. I had volunteer Black Krim also. The red tomatoes I planted didn't even bother to set tomatoes.