Don’t you love basil? A meal can’t possibly be considered Italian if there is not any basil in it. It’s one of the best herbs to begin with because it is not complicated to grow, touble-free to harvest and it smells great too.

Even though this little plant is native to the tropical Pacific islands, you can’t look at a French, Greek or Italian menu without seeing basil several times over. I am not sure how basil got to Europe, but I’m glad it did. In my opinion, the best basil meal is a mouth-watering pesto, which is a green sauce made from a whole bunch of chopped basil mixed with olive oil. Delicious!

Just some of the many varieties of basil that you can choose from are:

• Sweet Basil: This kind is the most popular one for dishes. It has glossy leaves and provides the full basil flavor.
• Lettuce-Leaf Basil: This variety of basil has broad leaves and a milder taste. There are several kinds of this leaf type, including Mammoth, Napoletano and Green Ruffles.
• Bush Basil: This smaller type of basil is good for edging and also comes in a few different varieties, including Spicy Globe, Bush, Tiny Leaf Purple, Green Bouquet and Piccolo Fine Verde.
• Lemon Basil: This variety has short, small leaves and offers a lemony fragrance. Herbal tea, fruit salad, vinegar and poultry and fish dishes are just a couple of the things lemon basil leaves can be used for.
• Purple Basil: It’s no surprise that purple basil has broad purple leaves and delicate pink flowers. Add it to your vinegars and in your Greek dinners.
• Thai Basil: This kind, which is from Thailand (of course), has long, thin leaves. It also has a slight licorice taste that adds extra flavor to Thai and Indian meals.

Even though some people may prefer to get their basil plants at the nursery, buying seeds is also a good way to get started. Regardless of how you start, your herbs should grow to about 20 inches high as long as they have plenty of sun and well-drained dirt.

In June or July, your basil will start to grow white buds, which I cut off. I do this because I’m not in it for the blooms; I want those lovely 1-2 inch leaves. When you cut off the flowers, you get a bushier herb with more leaves.

To harvest your basil, clip the stem just before the flowers, remove the leaves and dry them. After they’re dry you can put them in a freezer bag to store them. In fact, you don’t have to dry them, your herbs will go straight away into your freezer. You can even store your herbs in a container and cover them with olive oil, which can bring out all their taste. Your herbs can keep for several months this way.

You can grow basil indoors, but I can’t suggest it. My attempt at wintering basil several years ago wasn’t successful. It really needs about 5 hours of direct sunlight a day with moist soil to grow and succeed. Unfortunately, my kitchen does not get that much light.

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more information on Italian Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.