Basil: the herb of kings

By Michael Bettler
Lucias Garden

Now comes the task of planting the spring garden. You penciled it all winter, started your seedlings or collected your starter plants, prepared the beds and amended the soil. Now is the time to introduce them to their new home. But before you do this, watch the nightly weather report. There is an old wives' tale that certain plants should not be planted until after Easter, either the day after or the Sunday after. This is to assure that the last cold has passed, among other challenges the garden may have in spring. It certainly has worked for me, and that is how I plant my spring Basil crop.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is my favorite "promise" plant. It promises wonderful salads and pasta dishes, appetizers and desserts, accents to cheeses, seafood, meats and vegetables, a clean flavor when added to tea cakes and cookies; and it promises to perform well in the garden. It is what I call a "green thumb" plant: it will do well when many others may languish or fail. It is an encouragement to beginner gardeners and a mainstay for the seasoned gardener. Its greatest predator is the over-anxious gardener/cook.

Basil is a member of the mint (Labiatae) family. This family is noted for having (1) flowers that are "lip-like" (hence the name), (2) square stems, and (3) leaves that form "whirls" (like a ceiling fan) of opposite pairs: north-south; east-west; north-south; east-west, all the way up their stems. This is the largest of the culinary herb families and includes catnip, horehound, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, marjoram, the hundreds of varieties of mint, oregano, pennyroyal, rosemary, Salvia, savory, thyme and so many others. Why is their identification in this family so important? Because all members of this family grow in very much the same way, and more importantly, they are all harvested the same way. As a gardener/cook, this is important. When you harvest from a member of the mint family, at the base of the third or fourth "whirl" down from the tip, notice small leaf buds between the stem and the remaining opposite leaves. Those leaf buds are actually new stems: when you harvest a member of the mint family, it will double in its growth. Three weeks later you will have two new stems of whirls to harvest from, where you previously had one. (Harvest selectively and conservatively: the plant will appreciate everything left behind.)

There are more than 50 varieties of Basil. You only need about three to five for most cooking: (1) Italian sweet basil, (2) lemon basil, (3) opal or purple basil, and, possibly, (4) Cinnamon basil and (5) Thai spice basil. But please do not limit your garden or your kitchen to these. Within the basils, you will find many varieties with mild to intense flavors, tiny compact to broad "lettuce" leaves, light to dark shades of green and purple, and growth patterns from sprawling to columnar. It grows well in most soils, loves the sun and loves a good drink of water. (Hence, I call it a "green thumb" plant.)

Basil is one of the most universally cultivated culinary herbs. It is an excellent large container plant as well as an in-garden plant. That "4-inch" container plant can grow to 3 or 4 feet in height and width. Its Latin name translates roughly to a "scent/taste worthy of a king" as it appeared on royal banquet tables. It was a symbol of romance and love, protected homes from evil spirits and unwanted insect visitations, was used in baths and massages for beauty and sore muscles, and as a tea for both headaches and unset stomachs.

Basil, like all members of the mint family, is easy to encourage to grow: harvest it. From the tip, after it has produced at least three to five complete "whirls," harvest from the branch end with a good set of "bypass" garden shears. ("Loppers" tend to bruise or crush tender stems.) Do not let these cuttings touch the ground, but carry them into the kitchen where the leaves can be removed from the stems. Do not wash them as this will wash some of the basil flavor oils down the sink drain, and you will have to wait until the leaves dry thoroughly before you begin to process them. (Save the leafless stems. Dried, they can contribute to a wonderful "stove-top potpourri.")

If you are harvesting Basil in October or November, cut the entire basil plant about 3 inches above the ground, securing the plant in your other hand, and take it into the kitchen to process. (Resist the urge to wash it!) Separate the leaves from the stems and allow them to air dry for 30 minutes to an hour, unless you plan to use them fresh in a vegetable dish or in a salad with tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese with a sprinkling of olive oil, oregano and thyme. Rinse away spittle bug juice, discard yellow leaves or leaves with too many bug kisses on them.

Once harvested to their base level, the stalk and roots should be removed from the garden, their soil returned to the garden, and the stalks placed in a composting mulcher. They have done their work.

With a very few exceptions (not listed above) basil is an annual, and should be planted, cultivated and harvested as such. Its year begins in spring and ends in autumn. If you want basil in winter, harvest the leaves in October-November and make a thick pesto (paste), blending the leaves with a little regular olive oil, toss this pesto into a plastic freezer bag, and then into the freezer. When it is time in January for shrimp and pasta in a basil and garlic sauce, put a couple of tablespoons of basil pesto in a large pan, warm it with some freshly sliced or minced garlic, toss in the shrimp and cook until they turn red. Then serve this over fresh pasta, which may also be topped with an extra teaspoon of basil pesto, add a touch of Parmesan cheese and invite your friends over for a taste of garden freshness in the middle of winter.

If you have extra basil leaves, or some that you don't want to blend into a pesto, air-dry them on paper towels for an hour or while you go to the grocery store and buy a couple of bottles of (1) white wine vinegar, (2) red wine vinegar, (3) champagne vinegar, or (4) rice wine vinegar (not the 5% or 10% "white vinegar"), decant about 1 inch to 2 inches into a separate cup and stuff the bottle with basil leaves until it is once again full. Top it off with the saved vinegar, screw on the lid and set the bottle in a pantry or kitchen cabinet at room temperature for about 6 weeks. You then will have the basis of a good basil marinade for fish, meats, vegetables or an outstanding salad dressing.

Basil is a "green thumb" plant. It makes you look good as a gardener, and is always appreciated at the table. Enjoy it.