I make pesto all summer. I have an electric mini chopper/food processor. No way would I do it with a mortar and pestle!! Basil is super easy to grow-outside in the summer, in a pot. Sun and not too much water would be my suggestions. The more you pinch off it's leaves the better it grows. It's very easy and difficult to mess up. Good luck.

I sometimes buy basil plants at Trader Joe's, and they have the right variety for pesto. It is normally just called "Sweet Basil" at plant shops, but it can also be labeled "Genovese". Best to start with a plant that already has a lot of leaves and a good root system.

I mention Trader Joe's for basil plants because nurseries often do not have basil plants except in spring and summer, but TJ's has them all year.

They will need as much sun as you can give them, and eventually they will need huge pots, as they grow massive roots. You will get better results if you fertilize the plants, once they are established, especially if they are rootbound.

If you have frost (I do not), you will need to bring the plants inside while the temperatures are 32° or below, as this would otherwise kill them.

I do not use an actual recipe for pesto, but I start it with garlic that I mash with salt, and then I finish it in a food processor filled with basil leaves and a good amount of my best olive oil and Parmesan cheese. I add the toasted pine nuts last because I like them leave them a bit crunchy, even though it is traditional to purée them. I then adjust the salt and add freshly ground black pepper, which is also not traditional, but I like it.

To store, I put it in a wide mouth jar, press it down, and add a thin layer of olive oil to seal it and store it in the fridge. When I want to use it, I remove the olive oil from the top (it has usually hardened and is easy to remove), which I reserve to put back in the jar after I have pressed the remaining basil down.

I make pesto each summer to freeze for the year, tho I don't grow my own basil. A trick I learned from Martha Stewart I think, is to add a bit of lemon juice to keep it bright green even after frozen. It doesn't alter the taste. I used to freeze it in ice cube trays but started putting it in zip lock bags and spreading it out fairly thin. I can then break off pieces whatever size I need instead of having to use a whole cube. Stores more easily, too.

My grandson has a nut allergy but has never been tested for pine nuts (tho I think they are seeds) so I have avoided using them for quite a few years. I use toasted sunflower seeds instead and they work well.

Don't know about Lars, but in my world, basil is a hot season crop. It needs temps in the 70's or above to thrive and will turn up its toes if temps drop below 50-45F, let alone any frost. It is not sold year round by TJ's here!! And tough to grow indoors in winter even if you can find it, as light levels are usually too low.

But when you can get hold of a plant, pesto is easy to make, although I too opt for a food processor or blender rather than a mortar and pestle.

Oly's freezing idea is a good one.

I have answered on the cooking thread. I grow basil from Italian seed and have to do so under glass, even in summer. It germinates fast but dies the minute temperatures start to fall in September, even in the greenhouse.

The first time I made pesto I was in a hurry as my basil was sooo abundant. I had walnuts on hand and they worked fine. I've never tried pine nuts--can't find them in my small town so can't compare but I sure love my pesto!! I might even get two plants going next year so I have extra to freeze.

I put comments on the Cooking / Home Dec Convo page

➡️ https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6478486/the-pesto-project#n=14

Our temperatures are in the 70s, even in January, and low temps have been around 50°F. The basil plants I have are huge and make way more leaves than I can use, and so I'm considering making a large batch of pesto to freeze. I'm having a hard time now cutting back all the flowers, but the plants are not as bad about bolting in the winter as they are in the summer.

Even in the mild weather we are having this winter, I have to water the plants every day - they take a lot of water because they lose so much through their leaves, especially in our low humidity climate. When the weather was hotter, I was watering them twice a day.

I live in teh mid Atlantic and I cant get any basil growing until early summer. If the temps drop into the cooler zone, it wont grown here. There is no sense in even trying until it completely warms up.

I make pesto but I use a food processor, not a mortar.

But I generally just chop if finely with a knife and add in olive oil and freeze it in cubes. This is not pesto, of course, but I find a cube of this thrown into something is the closest thing to fresh basil I can get after the season has passed. I will even just simply put it into the freezer in a bag and just crumble it into things, too.

When I do pesto I use walnuts becasue pine nuts are way expensive and if I am going to keep it for a while I dont add in the cheese. I find that it keeps better and the cheese can always be added after.

The project is coming along. Last frost date March 15, I look forward to pesto this summer.

As I mentioned on the cooking thread the frost date isn't really relevant for basil. You need real heat, not just an absence of frost. So wait until it's properly warm before sowing or setting outside.

Usualy buy mine ( basil ) at Trader Joe’s. My recipe different. Fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, sliced almonds & canned, not marinated , artichoke hearts ( also from T.J.’s, ), Parmesan, along with fresh tomatoes, made in a blender, Very mellow, not quite as pungent.

I have found that basil in a pot never does well for me. I’m in zone 7; well we’ve been re-designted as 8b or something, but still basil needs heat and lots of sun and drainage. Some years i have had a plant grow to around 5’ tall and get very wide. It sort of depends on the rain and humidity too. Also, you can war yourself out with the moetar and pestle. A good blender and a little olive oil drizzle works very well.

The little basils are about an inch tall. I have high hopes for a successful crop this summer, followed by home made basil pesto.

Well done. Don't forget lots of heat and lots of sun, once they're hardened off

If they're indoors they need as much light as you can possibly give them until the can go outside.

They are not indoors, they are in a huge pot on the patio. And they are in for lots of heat and sun, this being Texas,

I plan to have a nice little patio this year. I have some pots of wildflower seeds sprouting, and some store bought petunias just to have flowers now. The leftover sweet potato from Thanksgiving has a 6 inch sprout.

Sounds good. I have to grow mine under glass even in midsummer. But on the other hand what basil enjoys I would hate. I can't function in high temperatures.