Dreaming In Shades of Green ~ Basil On My Mind!

Basil is one of my absolute favorites of herbs, as you can tell by the number of Basil plants in my greenhouse area! I normally stick to one or two types of Basil to grow, but I was just growing for our family then! This year begins the first year that The Garden Gate will begin producing our Organic Herbs and Starts for sale with our other hand crafts, candles & collectibles. I think it will be a promising endeavor!

So, today, I made my herb lists. It was a good place to start. Basil, being the first on the list, was quite the consideration! So many Basils... how much room do I have, again? While I would love to entertain all of the varieties, I'm afraid I wouldn't have much room for anything else! Which ones to pick, how to decide??? They all grow well, here, in my area of Texas. Here are the ones that I ended up deciding on...for starters, anyway! ;)

The pictures below are courtesy of Burpee Seeds. I'll take pics of ours as they get growing.

My first selection is one that I plant annually...Basil Genovese. It's the one with the large leaves, that we use most often. I love this in Pesto! Basil Genovese is a prolific grower! Just pinch the flowers back as they form, and it will continue to grow and grow! If it gets too tall, snip a few of the branches and root them in water, to become a second plant! Give it to a friend! They'll love you forever! As our Season goes along, I'll do a demo on our Garden Gate Basil Pesto, which is slightly different the the usual Pesto. Cannot wait to get this growing! I pulled the dried flowers from last year's plants; those have been dropped back into the pot and are already beginning to poke their little leaves out from the soil! So exciting!

My second selection for our gardens is Siam Queen Thai Basil. The leaves on this are a bright green, with a feint purple edge to them. The Thai Basil has a sharper, spicier quality than the Genovese, and is most often used for Asian cooking. I do like to use some of the year end Thai Basil in a Spicy Thai Basil Pesto, which is fabulous on grilled chicken!

I didn't grow any Lemon Basil last year...but I anticipate that it will be a popular one for our Stand! It's not quite as 'sharp' as Genovese, and has a hint of lemon flavor, making it wonderful in salads, marinades and extra special as a flavor addition to your Pesto. There's also a Lime Basil...not sure if we'll make it to that one, but it is worth a mention! These two would be fabulous in your citrus water, as a refreshing Summer drink!

This beauty is just pretty! Burpee's Red Rubin Basil is not one that I've grown before, either. I think it'd be pretty on a fresh Summer Salad as an accent. I've read that it makes a striking addition to Pesto...so we're going to see how this does. It's beauty, alone, makes it garden worthy!

Those are the four Basil plants that I've decided will join the garden this year. Along with those, there will be many more herbs to be started, so I've got to watch my garden space! I do tend to become overenthusiastic in my herb gardening! I'll be excited to be planting these soon, so they're ready to roll out when our customers catch that Spring Fever...it won't be that far off.

Until then, I'll be Dreaming in Shades of Green!

For more about what's going to be growing in our Gardens, along with other Blogs, visit
http://mamajeani/wixsite.com/thehomestead for Life Inside the Garden Gate