How to prune & harvest basil

Описание: Hello! I hope you are doing well. It’s almost the end of the summer planting season and I have not yet made a big batch of pesto to freeze and use over fall and winter. So today, I’m harvesting basil with my faithful garden companion, and I thought you might want to join us. This year I grew nine different varieties of basil. But for this pesto, I’m just going to use three of those varieties: Genovese, standard lemon basil, and Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil. This is Genovese basil, which is the traditional Italian variety used for pesto. When you buy basil in the grocery store, it’s most likely Genovese basil. It’s popular for its large, aromatic leaves and classic basil flavor. I stayed on top of pruning most of my basil plants this year so they are looking really healthy despite constant rain for the past few weeks. Usually by the time my tomatoes are dying back, so is my basil. But this year, as of right now, all the basil plants are doing really well and are ready for another hard prune. I’ll try to show you how I harvest and prune at the same time as I work today. This is Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil, an heirloom variety with intense citrus flavor and medium-sized bright green leaves. Both of the lemon basils I’m growing remind me in the best way possible of the taste of Fruity Pebbles. The lemon basils will add bright citrus notes to the pungent herby flavor of Genovese basil when combined into pesto. Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil has larger leaves than the standard lemon basil. Here's a side-by-side visual comparison of Genovese basil plants, and standard lemon basil plants, you can really see the difference in the leaf size and texture. So you’ll see as I’m pruning I’m going down the stem and making my cuts right above a leaf node (where a new pair of leaves is emerging), and harvesting the top two or so sets of leaves from the top of the plant. My pinky is pointing to where I will make my cut here….and the plant will regrow from that remaining set of leaves on the top of the stem. Pruning basil this way promotes bushier growth and prevents flowering, extending the life of the plant. I ended up with about eight cups of fresh basil and my kitchen smells amazing! I hope you will join me tomorrow as I make homegrown sundried tomato & almond pesto! See you then!
#herbs #basil #garden #cat #growyourownfood #gardenharvest #herbgarden #herbgardening #gardening #everybitcountschallenge #pruning #harvesttime