There are as many uses for basil as there are types. You can put basil in bouquets, teas, soups, and almost any fish dish. It also dries and freezes well, so you can have the herb to use all winter long. For instance, classic basil pesto freezes well in small jars or ice cube trays. Basil plants do not last very long indoors or outdoors since they are annuals, so don’t worry if your plant dies within months. Fortunately, basil grows readily from seed so you can keep a crop of basil growing in your indoor herb garden year-round. Here are some tips that will help you grow beautiful, bushy basil indoors or out. For basil to take off, the soil and air need to be fairly warm, so don’t rush putting out your plants in the spring. Wait until about two weeks after your last frost before putting out your plants, and don’t forget to harden them off. Make sure your pot has plenty of drainage holes and that you use high-quality potting mix. Basil doesn’t like to be too wet, so keep your soil moist, not soggy. Try using fabric pots. And for a more finished look, you can put the fabric pot in a larger vessel. You can also root basil in water. Take the stem of a plant, and put it in a clear vase or glass of water. When roots appear you can transplant it out (after hardening off) into your pot. Mix an organic fertilizer into the potting soil when you plant. Before you do this, read the label on your potting soil to make sure that it doesn’t have fertilizer already in it. Unless your potting soil has a time-release fertilizer already included, add a diluted liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks. To store basil, you can make pesto and freeze it in jars. You can also make a slurry by blending basil with a little olive oil, which you can then make into ice cubes.
