I grew some Basil and Oregano in my vegetable garden. The basil is doing well, but the plants are getting pretty long. I am wondering if I should cut of the tops and use the leaves or do I have to take out the entire plant from the root? If I cut it off will it sprout new branches?
I've never grown herbs before so don't know.
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Sure, I'd love to share it with you...like Norm mentioned fresh is best...but when you have a big bunch of basil that will waste the freezer alternative works great! You must skip the cheese if freezing though;) I'll post in Food & Entertaining forum for you...see you there!
Oh, I also tried to grow indoors with little luck...it is a poor version what it is in summer outdoors:(
I usually put it onto a cookie sheet and then drop blobs of chopped or macerated herbs on top -- about a TBSP each, then freeze and when you take it out of the freezer it won't stick to the cookie sheet, and you can cut the wax paper into a square and twist it off around the blob of herbs and then pop the wrapped blobs into a zip-loc bag.
I have found that for some reason the basil does not like to be an indoor plant for long so I just kept rooting in water as a back up. By mid January, there really wasn't enough to do much with and certainly did not look like the plant it had been. I consider it an annual and just keep it around as long as it is useful. Seeds are cheap and easy to start indoors (sunny window) in March or April. They hate frost so do not plant outside until late May or June to be safe. The best recipe for pesto is your own! Just throw in all the leaves you can with some chopped garlic in a blender - give it a couple of short blasts. Take regular (not light or extra virgin olive) and pour a small thin stream as you blend. Looks awful . Take a big hunk of parmigana and grate enough to thicken your pesto...a few short bursts to blend and you can really add all you want. Some people like pine nuts but this is how we like it...and usually just make small amounts so it is fresh. Norm
for the great advice. I shall cut back the basil and watch it grow. So exciting!
Mary Anne how does the wax paper help? Do I put the wax paper in the freezer?
Dyn' do you have pesto recipe I can use?
I love putting fresh basil on pizza and use it in pasta so I'm hoping I can use it fresh in dishes during the summer.
Also, I was thinking of growing basil indoors in the winter, can I do that?
If you basil needs a good trim be happy! Just put the longer ones in a bud vase with some water and they will root in about 10 days and you can pot them up or leave them until you make some pesto or something. I only buy one or two plants per season now that I know this and I think cutting back basil keeps it bushy and healthy. Norm
sorry I typed too slow and Maryanne had answered at the same time...;)
I am an amateur so bear that in mind...I have watched my mom & grand dad all my life though...& grow my own basil. The basil needs to be cut just above the new growths on the stems...this will force it to grow fuller & not long & skinny. Also you want to prevent it from flowering & seeding...so important to cut it back...I always felt bad cutting it if I wasn't going to use it..but it is essential to it growing for you all summer in a healthy manner. the oregano I've seen both of them cut low at the base bundle with an elastic & place it upside down in a paper bag , tie the bag & hang it up on a hook indoors...when the oregano dries it crumbles off the branches easily...we have oregano for the whole winter this way.
The basil...we don't usually dry. But we do make pesto with it & freeze the pesto in ice cube trays. this comes in handy to flavour fish dishes or just toss with pasta..Hope this helped...let me know if there is anything else I can find out for you...I'm sure my Nonno would be thrilled to help:D
they will grow new branches -- wherever you nip off the top few leaves, there will be two branches to grow more. If your basil is laready becoming leggy, I would cut it back now by about one third, and then it will start to branch and fill out more. The oregano is much the same, but it is already more bushy.
This is the great thing about herbs -- the more you harvest the nice new leaves on the top, the more they will branch and produce more nice new leaves! And do nip off any flower buds -- do not let your herbs flower (unless you do want the flowers for some reason - salad?) because then the leaves will start to get bitter. Also the older leaves tend to be stronger flavour or bitter. Try and see which ones you like better.
And if you have too much to use you can pick a bunch and either dry them for future use, or freeze them -- chop them and put them in tablespoon drops onto wax paper or into ice cube trays and then you can have a tablespoon of your favourite herb all through the winter, just by dropping the frozen cube into a soup or whateer you are cooking!