Hi Christie
We grew basil out of a pot this year and it did great. As fast as we used it it grew back just fine. Next year though might try some in the gardens along with the flowers. If you grow it, it's great with fresh tomatoes, some buffalo mozzarella cheese and vinegar and oil. Maybe a bit of salt and pepper too....
Pam

Basil is easy to grow. I had it in a pot with dill and agastache and it was crowding the other plants. I have grown it in the ground and in pots with flowers. I don't know about pesto either. Basil is good with tomatoes or a little in a salad. I just like the smell of the leaves; don't do much with it. I have just grown the common kind but there are many types.

christie, I think the large-leaf Italian is mostly what is used. I grow Siam Queen just as an ornamental. have grown lots of varieties over the years and like them all.

As for uses for olive oil, I just use it wherever cooking oil is called for. Once it is heated, you don't get that olive oil taste which I am not too crazy about. I fry potatoes in it, brown meat, use the light version in baking, use pure virgin in all else. It is my main oil for cooking and salad dressings.

I don't grow basil, but I buy it fresh when it is in season from the local farmer market. The rest of the year I get it from store bought containers. It is best when it is fresh. I put it in tomato sauces and sprinkle it on quartered up potatoes,sliced squash and onions and coat lightly with olive oil and bake in the oven. I plan to try and grow a pot of basil next year. When do you plant it?

I was just reading that it can be winter sown.
I have been buying mine as well. I think I will try to grow some this year, I am planing on growing tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, radish, onion, and "try" some potatoes.
Maybe a few other things. I will have to finish doing a little more research first. I dont want a huge garden as such. I want more of a square foot or even container type for my vegetables.
I use olive oil as well. Dr.. said it was best if I was going to use oil. lol.

Thanks everyone. I haven't noticed what kind of seeds are available locally. I read through some old posts in the herb forum and saw genovese basil recommended for pesto a few times and there was a variegated one that's supposed to ok too that might be more ornamental. I don't remember what it was called.

How do you make pesto?

I grow the purple ruffled leaf type in the beds..makes a real statement with the color. We keep some other green leaf varieties in pots, too, and hold over the winter since I love using it in spaghetti sauce or anything I use with tomatos. It will reseed here in the ground, so much comes back each spring..sometimes where I don't want it.. and just move it. Haven't tried pesto but there are many other uses for it in recipies.

Basil is just one of my must-have-to-grow plants, along with tomatoes.
Genovese basil is traditionally used to make pesto. And it's so easy to grow! Pesto is very easy to make too - just olive oil, garlic, lots of basil and pine nuts, but I like to use walnuts instead - seems to add more flavor.
The first frost is always sad for me because it kills off the basil. My sister grows quite a bit in pots (she lives in Maine) and freezes the whole leaves so she'll have some for winter cooking. I'm trying that approach this year myself.

Now I'm wanting to try different types. I'm sure the purple leafed one that Kaye mentioned and the variegated one would be more ornamental. Is Genovese basil something I could find at Lowe's or someplace like that or do you think I would have to order it?

Margie - Thank you. Glad you joined in. The recipes I saw had the same ingredients basically - lots of variations. It's put through a food processor and made into a paste(?) and used as a spread for lots of different things.

Really - I'm just trying to eat healthier.

...she says as she munches on leftover Halloween candy. lol

I need something like that to put on bread because I love butter. That is why I don't use my bread machine. If I make bread I use whole sticks of butter. My will power is not strong so it would have to something that tastes good and that sounds good. I use olive oil or canola for all cooking. To me the expense of olive oil is nothing compared to doctor bills. I try to eat wild alaskan salmon also.
Christie if you want different types, I would order seeds.

I don't know if these are good or not. When I ordered seeds I ordered by phone because shipping was higher on-line.

Here is a link that might be useful: park's basil

helen, I think you will be happy; I have ordered their collection before, but it was different varieties then. One formed a perfect globe, in fact, I think it was called Globe Basil, and it made a beautiful edging to flower beds.

Genovese variety is best for most uses, especially pesto. There is a Thai variety that has more of a licorice scent that works better for Asian foods.

Pesto recipe from Jeff Smith (Frugal Gourmet)

4 cups packed basil leaves, stems removed
1/2 c olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced or pressed (I like roasted best for this)
6 sprigs flat leaf parsley, stems removed
1/4 c toasted pine nuts
1/2 c grated fresh parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Place everything but cheese in a blender and work into a paste. Add cheese.

Now, that being said, it takes a while to get the leaves ground down into anything resembling a paste. I make several batches every summer, and the last one I did burned up my blender! I found that mincing the leaves in a food processor before placing in the blender works best. I work with a spatula as the blender is grinding away, and slowly the sauce will come together.

This freezes very well in ziploc bags. Whenever I want pesto I pry a chunk off and I have instant summer! I love pesto tossed in pasta, as a pizza sauce, mixed into a vinagrette and the following recipe that I dreamed up:

Spinach Pesto Cheese Ball

1 box frozen spinach thawed and drained
1 onion minced and sauteed
2 cloves garlic pressed and sauteed at end of onion saute
1/2 cup pesto (or more)
1 bar cream cheese (reduced fat works fine)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic. Remove from heat. Mix in everything but pine nuts. Form into a ball. Coat the ball with the pine nuts. Serve with crackers or crusty bread.

This year I brought some basil plants inside to see if I can overwinter them. They will reside on my germination shelf until the new seedlings push them away in February. Hopefully, I'll have the occasional basil leaf to adorn my food this winter.

Thanks for the recipes Paul!
Someone in another forum said they freeze leftover pesto in ice cube trays, then they pop out and put into a freezer bag so it's already separated. They also said to not add the cheese if you're going to freeze it - then add it later when you thaw it out.

I noticed Baker Creek has Genovese Basil.

I can't tell the difference between adding the cheese, or waiting, so I just go ahead and mix it in before freezing. Ice cubes work well, but with extra space in the bag, this leads to ice crystals forming around the cubes. I have no problem cutting off as much as I need from the thin chunk when I freeze it whole.

I found genovese basil seeds at Sprawl*Mart.

Basil grows great here. I never thought I liked basil until a friend handed me a cracker smeared with pesto and got me hooked. But she used chicken broth instead of olive oil to make hers, and that's the way I make mine too. And I don't use parsley, because I like all basil better.

Even tho i'll be ignored i've grown basil alot here and it does well. I've started it from seed in a green house to get an early start. I use it in speggetti sauce. an occosional veggie soup.
I've never used Holy basil but i love the fragrance and grow it just for. There is also lemon basil and an assortment of other fragrances. And of course there is the fabled chocolate basil which probably don't exist.

Hi Vickie! I hope I'm not guilty of ignoring you. I went ahead and ordered Genovese Basil from Baker Creek when I ordered my melon seeds. I don't have a greenhouse so I'll try to start a few by winter sowing after New Year's is over. I haven't used the lights I set up in my basement in a looong time. I'm not sure they would even work anymore.

christie, reserve some seeds back to plant outside directly after the weather warms up....just in case.

It will have plenty of time to grow.

I just watched an herbalist either on video on TV, can't remember which. She said she harvests her herbs monthly. That is where I get behind. I sometimes let mine bloom before remembering to clip them.

vicki, I start mine on the back porch under lights...don't have a greenhouse. They seem to do well with the lights too.

You can winter sow basil and it does real well. I did it all the time. The broad leaf kind the is most versitile and it only takes a nice pinch off the tops of the plants to keep it bushy. Let some go to seed and you'll have a whole new crop the next year...

I made pesto a lot ... try making some pasta and then mixing it up with your pesto ...Jeff Cook's is a great recipe...serve a little deer sausage on the side ... what a great meal!