Peeved About Basil

The plant that prompted this post.

I have my fair share of pet peeves – people who spit in public, wet sponges left in sinks, your dog's huge balls that should have been chopped off, cops that don’t use turn signals…the list truly go on and on.

I would like to take the time now to prevent future sighs and eye rolling at one of my pet peeves that is somewhat of culinary concern – improperly harvested basil! Trivial? Yes, but…

This post was prompted by a severely stripped basil plant sitting outside a Philly coffee shop that will remain unnamed. I wouldn’t have noticed the plant – ok, I would have – if not for an employee that came out to harvest some of the last few leaves remaining on the plant to construct their mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwiches.

I engaged the employee in conversation, all the while hoping the conversation would lead to why the plant looked so poor. I could have just blurted out why the plant had almost no leaves, and I often do blurt out what is on my mind without thinking of tact, but I didn’t want to seem like a crass know-it-all. Pleasant guy, but he didn't seem concerned about the plant.

My opportunity to right this basil wrong escaped me. But that’s why I have a blog; I can blurt out anything I like here.

Don't do this.

So, here’s how to properly harvest basil and stop me from going ka-ra-zee...

When pinching basil leaves, don’t pinch off individual leaves, or grab a hunk and indiscriminately pull. If you do this, you will strip the plant of leaves without encouraging new growth. To harvest basil and encourage new growth, pinch the stem right above a set of leaves. You want to harvest the tips of the stems, not individual leaves.

And it's not just Joe Schmo who grabs and pulls, I know people who maintain beautiful gardens, yet terrorize their basil plants.

I have no computer graphics skills.

• Plants put on new growth from buds at the tips or tops of the plant. These buds are apical buds, and have apical dominance. These buds will always be dominant, and be the place of new growth, unless...
  

• If the apical bud is cut, pinched, or damaged, plants can also put on new growth from axillary buds at the base of leaves. These axillary buds stay dormant until the apical bud is cut, pinched, or damaged. (This is the basis of all pruning.)
  

• By pinching basil right above the node (leaf and axillary bud), you have removed the dominant apical (top) bud, and sent a message to the plant to push new growth from the axillary bud.

• Wrong Way - Pinch directly underneath a node or in the middle of the internode (stem between the leaves and buds), and the plant does not get as strong of a message that the axillary bud should kick into growth. This is the scenario that happens when you just grab and pull.

• Right Way - Pinch or cut basil directly above the node to encourage new growth. Once substantial new growth develops, pinch (harvest) the new tips to encourage further growth and branching. If you continue this, you will have a rounder, fuller plant...that actually has leaves on it!

See the pinched stem and the baby leaves at the top starting to get larger?

As the plant continues to grow, the once baby leaves and stems grow in size. What once was a dormant bud is now a large stem with leaves (out of the picture) all along it.

Freezing Basil

Winter is coming for my basil, so I better save it, too. Freeze or dry? Freezing preserves the flavor of basil well, while drying does basil no justice. Now the only problem is deciding how to freeze basil. What ever you do, know that frozen basil will never look like fresh basil. So, don’t even think about using it as a garnish or in a salad mix.

Blanching – Prevents basil from darkening when frozen. No matter what method you use, frozen basil will darken or blacken if you do not blanch it first. Drop fresh basil in boiling water for 10-15 seconds, drain, and shock with cold water. This sounds like a lot of trouble, but it only takes 5 minutes.

Not Blanching – What’s a little black basil in spaghetti sauce? Shouldn’t be a problem, unless presentation is a factor.

Whole - Stick whole leaves in a freezer bag or container in the freezer. Thaw and do as you please with them.

Chopped - Chop now, take it easy later.

Water - Another method is to freeze chopped basil covered with water in ice cube trays. Each cube yields easy to use portions of 1 to 2 tablespoons of basil. Freezing larger portions in larger containers is also an option.

Oil – Running basil through a food processor with a little oil, is another way to prepare basil for freezing in ice cube trays or larger containers.

Pesto – Don’t stop at oil, go ahead and make pesto to freeze. (Don’t add cheese until ready to use, as freezing changes the texture of cheese.)

My preferred method is freezing blanched, chopped basil in ice cube trays topped with water. (This may stain and impart flavors to the ice cube tray.) The cubes are handy when you don’t need a lot of basil, and basil without oil is more versatile and kinder to my ass.

• Wash basil and drain.
• Blanche and shock basil.
• Chop or run basil through a food processor.
• Pack ice cube trays with about 2 tablespoons chopped basil in each cube and top with water.
• Freeze.
• Pop frozen cubes out, and store in a container.
  

Herbs to Grow...and Eat

Most of my time is not spent in a kitchen or with food, but outdoors in gardens with plants. Today I threw down many yards of compost and ripped the lateral buds off peonies. That's what I really do. I'm no food expert; I just like to complain give my opinion about food in my spare time.

Spring has sprung where I am, so it's time to get my herbs together. If you're some place warmer this happened about a month ago. If you're some place tropical, I have a sweet apartment in DE that I'll trade you.

I've had large gardens and container gardens. I've started everything from seed and I've bought all of my plants. You are no more saintly if you have a large plot and start every plant from seed than if you buy your plants and stick them in a pot .

I'm currently renting on the second floor of a row house, so I'm growing in pots. Time slipped away from me, so I started nothing from seed this year, unless you count the cilantro in my tire planter that made it through the winter.

MY MUST-HAVE HERBS TO GROW FOR COOKING -Yes, there are others.
Basil, Bay Leaf, Chives, Cilantro, Dill, Lemon Grass, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme.

EASY FROM SEED - Ready for use this season
Basil - Annual. Very sensitive to cold, so don't put out too early. Will not live through the winter.
Cilantro - Annual. Re-seed every two weeks because it finishes its life cycle quickly. Don't buy because it's life is almost over by the time you're buying it.
Dill - Annual. Will re-seed itself and pop up next year everywhere but where you want it.

JUST BUY THESE
Bay Leaf - Can grow into a shrub. Take indoors or protect if you live in zone 7/8 or colder.
Chives - Perennial. Don't be afraid to chop it to the ground. It will return.
Lemon Grass - Perennial if in zone 8 or warmer. Freeze the bottom fleshy part of the stalk to have for cooking in winter.
Oregano - Perennial. Makes a lovely groundcover. Mine dies sometimes during the winter in a pot in DE.
Rosemary - Perennial. Take inside or protect if colder than zone 7/8.
Sage - Perennial. Doesn't like to live in a swamp. Mine always die over-wintered in a pot. Sometimes they don't make it through the winter in the ground, either. I don't waste my time pampering if it looks like crap. I yank and go shopping for more.
Thyme - Perennial. Makes a great groundcover. Wait until it leaves-out in the spring to trim the dead. Sometimes it pretends to be dead, but is not. Patience. I have none.

A FEW VEGETABLES - I have room on my porch for only a few vegetables.
Thai Dragon Peppers - I grow these because the plant is compact and produces tons of tiny hot peppers. One plant produces enough peppers for an entire year. I pick them and let them sit on my counter to dry at the end of the season and use them year round.
Cherry Tomato - I grow one in a pot and train it to my fire escape railing. An indeterminate tomato plant will keep growing like a vine, so it's ideal for training horizontally.
Larger Tomato - I grow these in a small piece of ground in front of my house because a large fruit just requires so much water that a pot does it no justice. I have to pick the fruit before it's truly ripe or else people walking past steal them. Such is life.

Herbs and Vegetables like all the sun you can give them and will not do well with less than 6 hours of sun. Just remember that pots in the sun may need watering every day if not multiple times a day.
Tip - Clay pots look nice, but are porous and dry out quickly. Plastic pots are better if you have a job and cannot come home to water twice a day.

Now, get to the nursery this weekend and pick up your favorite herbs. I know you forgot to start seeds, too.