First Big Harvest of 2010, Part 3: Basil

So I've discussed my carrot & garlic harvests so it's finally time to show off my good basil harvest. I like to do a few hard harvests on my basil throughout the summer. This not only helps delay flowering (or so I've read) but it's also seems to help the plant bush out and become more productive.

Essentially, I take about 2/3rds of each plant (from the top) during a "hard" harvest. This leaves enough leaves to photosynthesize and not traumatize the basil while giving me a lot of herbs. I think for this first hard harvest, I'm going to freeze it in 1/4 cup muffin tins (just clean leaves, chop, put in muffin tin, add a bit of water and freeze). The frozen basil, especially the thai basil, was awesome during the winter when you couldn't even get fresh stuff in the grocery store! It's perfect to stir into pasta sauces or thai dishes (especially my beloved kra pow).

The Haul: 4.5 oz