Friday morning I got up all primed to spend the day sewing. Vince was out of town. Chad was working. About 7:30 I had finished my morning chores. The oil change guy was going to be here at 8 to get my car so I figured . . no need to go downstairs and start sewing so I went out to visit with the chickens and get the early eggs. That’s when I made the mistake of looking over at the basil. It’s out of control! In my previous gardens, I’ve always planted 6 or 8 basil plants and never have they produced enough for me to have a lot in the freezer. This year . . it just won’t stop. I picked part of one plant and filled a laundry basket. This is about half of what I picked.
Washed it, plucked the leaves off –
It’s pretty . . kinda reminds me of the color of my new weed eater! 🙂 I made more pesto. I chopped some, added a little olive oil and lemon juice and froze in ice cube trays.
Dumped it and put the cubes in a zipper freezer bag. The plain basil for soups and stews or spaghetti sauce will be loose in the zipper bag.
All the pesto is wrapped in individual little mounds in plastic wrap and then put into a zipper bag so I can keep it all straight. I’m thankful that we have enough pesto to make it through the year, enough plain chopped basil to make it through the year and a garden still full of basil! Not sure what made this year’s crop grow so well but I sure like it.
Regina says
Ours is growing well this year, too. We’ve already made 3 batches of pesto using your recipe – and should be on batch #4 this weekend (frequent harvest, smaller batches). I like the idea of the “plain cubes” though – will perhaps do that instead this weekend.
Sheryl says
You’re lucky to have so much basil. There are huge commercial crops affected by a blight this year. The crops have had to be destroyed. It’s called “Basil Blight” aka “basil downy mildew”. You can find several articles about it on the net.
Our basil died back pretty early. I might have to get one of those indoor gardens like you have.
Deputy's Wife says
I picked up the wrong basil plants this year. 🙁 They are dwarf basil or something like that. Tastes the same, but now I need to pick more so I will have enough for a recipe.
I never even thought of drying basil and freezing it! Next year I will give it a try. Maybe I will have enough with my two dwarf plants.
pdudgeon says
so glad you have enough basil this year.
i remember the posts last year about your trips to the store to find basil, so i’m glad that you don’t have that problem any more. you’re geting quite a ‘stash’ of herbs, fruit and veggies, and i know how much you like shopping a stash.
Good work!
Amy says
I can’t wait to get my fresh basil in the mail! The bunch I bought at the Farmer’s Market yesterday was looking wilted by the time I got it home. I wrapped the end in a paper towel and soaked it with water. Then put a couple of inches of water in a cup, and put the paper towel with the ends of the basil in the cup. It looks perfect again! Smells wonderful, too!
Cindy B says
I can’t get basil to grow much at all. I’m lucky to get a good bunch of leaves one time.