Growing herbs is a total foodie win, not only for freshness’ sake but also because you can take just the amount you need without forking over four dollars for a wan little plastic-encased sprig from the grocery store. Plus, the herb will usually replenish itself by the next time you need it.
But some herbs will only last so long. Basil is quick to bolt in the DC heat, and although pinching off the bolting head can prolong the life of the plant somewhat, there comes a point when the plant has simply decided it’s time to go to seed. At this point, the leaves become bitter, with an almost licorice-y overtone. My basil plants were rapidly approaching this stage, so I ruthlessly severed them at their bases and brough a whole mess of basil home for processing into pesto.
I combined the basil with five cloves of garlic, several tablespoons of olive oil, and a healthy handful of toasted pine nuts in my mini food processor. If I were using the pesto right away, I would have added grated parmesan at the end, but this pesto was bound for the freezer for later use, and it’s best not to freeze cheese. I spooned the pesto into an ice cube tray so that it’ll be easier to defrost appropriate portions.
With quick-bolting annual herbs like basil and cilantro, I think it’s best not to get too precious about individual plants. Don’t try to make a single basil plant last all summer, and instead try succession planting. I’ve already got several new basil seedlings out in my garden to replace the plants I just harvested. This way I’ll never have to settle for bitter basil. Any excess will just be made into freezer pesto, giving me access to the taste of summer all year round.
I plant several different kinds of basil, and buy them throughout the season, as you suggested. My favorite is one that I buy through Burpee as a live plant; they call it Spicy Saber Basil. The leaves have a serrated edge. However, they don’t always offer it as a live plant every year. Sometimes, they just sell the seeds. I have never had any luck growing basil from seeds! But, I was lucky enough to find it this year at a local nursery as a plant, so I am happy! Janet
I have also had trouble with starting basil from seed, but I had more success this year when I made sure to use sterile potting soil (kind of peat-y stuff, with a mild amount of organic fertilizer). Maybe basil seeds/seedlings are especially prone to rot? Or maybe it was a temperature thing. I’m going to try direct seeding some basil seeds in the garden next month. I’ll post on whether that works out or not.
Hmm I think that’s good advice, not holding herbs too preciously – my basil’s doing OK but I’ve already killed two rosemary plants! I thought they were easy to take care of (and didn’t have problems in previous summers) but this just isn’t my summer of rosemary.
My neighbor (in the Northwest) claims that if you harvest basil early enough, it re-grows. His plants produced four crops last summer, which he made into pesto for the winter.
In Maine, our basil bolts more slowly. But I also have great luck just sprinkling seeds into a container or around the stalks of the bigger basil (so the seedlings are needing the space about the time the big plants need to sacrifice themselves to a big batch of pesto).
We live on our pesto cubes all winter!
Love your blog!
[...] 1, 2009 by Amelia …besides putting it on pasta, that is. The pesto I made the other day went into the freezer, and I meant for it to stay there for more than just a few days. But [...]
[...] and started to think about what to do with the leaves. Pesto (frozen, in ice cube trays, as done here) works well, and most of the basil will end up this way. This also seemed a prime opportunity to [...]
I have never made pesto, but I have tasted it. I have Basil in my gardens, the kind with purple flowers. Can I use it to make pesto?
[...] then, of course, there’s frozen pesto, which I make a lot of. My latest batch was an experiment that used Thai and lemon basils instead of Italian. [...]