Basil plants from the supermarket

[Cab]

The plants from supermarkets are sown rather too thickly to last. Thin them out and they'll survive fine.

Although to be honest I sow from seed (basil, parsley, coriander, dill and some others every year, others when the plants are straggly), its easy, cheap, and you've a far better choice of varieties.

 

[radger]

Patrick & Cab have the key to keeping them alive - split and re-pot. I split a basil plant from Lidl into about 5 pots, and I spent the summer repotting as they got progressively larger.
The pots the supermarket plants come in are too small and crowded for the plants to thrive

 

[Cab]

Same is true for home grown. Don't over-crowd basil, give it plenty of moisture and light, and it'll thrive all summer. When it starts to flag, freeze some and dry some, and you've got basil till more grows again.

Theres a great mix of varieties available from Nickys Nursery, called 'Spice Boys'. I always grow half a trough of that, and half a trough of one of the standard large leaved, green varieties.

 

[NickM]

So does anybody think that fresh basil is actually better than dried? I don't. But you have to sprinkle the dried basil, with the heat turned off, on top of the sauteed onions/peppers/whatever before adding liquid to the sauce. Leave for about a minute, and then add the chopped tomatoes or whatever. The heat in the onions brings out the flavour in the dried basil.

 

[Cab]

So does anybody think that fresh basil is actually better than dried? I don't. But you have to sprinkle the dried basil, with the heat turned off, on top of the sauteed onions/peppers/whatever before adding liquid to the sauce. Leave for about a minute, and then add the chopped tomatoes or whatever. The heat in the onions brings out the flavour in the dried basil.

Its horses for courses. Fresh basil is better for many dishes (say, warm tomato salad) and dried is fine for others (say, a long-cooked pasta sauce). Remember, basil shrinks up a long way when dried, you're adding a lot of basil in even a small pinch of dried, so its an intense flavouring. When you're using fresh you have to add a heck of a lot more.

Of course, if you find somewhere sunny to grow your own basil and dry it fresh yourself, it'll be far better than bought dried basil.

 

[Fnaar]

tell them imaginary stories about your Dad being a Mod in the 1960s beating up Rockers on the beach in Brighton.

Take it back to the shop, and say "My Basil's Fawlty"

 

[domtyler]

Its horses for courses. Fresh basil is better for many dishes (say, warm tomato salad) and dried is fine for others (say, a long-cooked pasta sauce). Remember, basil shrinks up a long way when dried, you're adding a lot of basil in even a small pinch of dried, so its an intense flavouring. When you're using fresh you have to add a heck of a lot more.

Of course, if you find somewhere sunny to grow your own basil and dry it fresh yourself, it'll be far better than bought dried basil.

Interesting, why would that be?

 

[Aperitif]

Take it back to the shop, and say "My Basil's Fawlty"

10/10

 

[Cab]

Interesting, why would that be?

All sorts of reasons. For one, you'll be growing your plants more slowly than in commercial production, home grown basil is always rather intensely flavoured. If you grow it well, don't overwater but allow it enough water to live, keep pinching the tops out to stop flowering etc. then you can get a tremendously good crop.

Then for drying the trick is to do it fast. I've got a food dehydrator, basil dries quickly and easily, and I'd store it for no more than half a year or so before using it up. Get it into an airtight jar fast, and you'll just not find anything on the market prepared with as much care or with such good starting material.

 

[User482]

The basil I grew from seed this spring is still growing fine on a south facing window sill - just needs regular water and the tops pinching out. I've never had any success with shop bought basil surviving.

 

[Cab]

The basil I grew from seed this spring is still growing fine on a south facing window sill - just needs regular water and the tops pinching out. I've never had any success with shop bought basil surviving.

You've done well to keep it going. In principle its a short lived perennial, but it needs a good spot indoors to do well over winter in the UK.

Does it continue to grow well over winter, do you get much off it? I ask 'cos we've done a lot of work on the house this year (central heating, insulation, double glazing) so we should now have a fighting chance of keeping basil alive over winter.

 

[User482]

You've done well to keep it going. In principle its a short lived perennial, but it needs a good spot indoors to do well over winter in the UK.

Does it continue to grow well over winter, do you get much off it? I ask 'cos we've done a lot of work on the house this year (central heating, insulation, double glazing) so we should now have a fighting chance of keeping basil alive over winter.

The leaves don't grow as big or as quickly as they did, but as I've got (I think) 4 plants in a long trough, I still have enough for my needs (probably a handful a week). The flavour is definitely better than the shop bought ones.

The window is double glazed and is in a warm, south facing spot so I guess it's in the best conditions it could possibly have.