Basil. To eat, to cook, to plant. Or something completely different!

Hi Sandra, I knew full well what you get up to with Basil, In fact you made the topic opener very difficult as I was going to go with 'what do you do with basil in a pot' but as I knew you don't keep your Basil in a pot i thought you wouldn't respond. So your Baisl isn't that keen on eating basil, a bit of an irony there. I must say your answer is a lot cleaner than I expected

I can be ladylike when I want to, you know, and anyway, I don't think I'd be allowed to post what I really wanted to. My mother always used to tell me to be wary of Dirty Old Men, but I never imagined I'd be lucky enough to find one of my own! My Basil is 75, but in his head, he's still 21. I suppose I could keep him in a big pot now I come to think of it; it would certainly keep him out of trouble!

Sandra please don't put your Basil in a pot just yet, it does after all require decapitation first. I'm afraid I'm never going to be able to refer to your Basil as tony, he's Basil to me now.

naughty thea!

i'm not really familiar with basil although i must have eaten it. i am familiar with Basil Fawlty, one of the best comedy characters ever, a true legend :)

Rob, basil does not go with fray and bentos pies or liver which is why you're probably not that familiar with it. Basil Fawlty on the other hand was a wonderful invention and should be stuffed as a national treasure.

If you won't let me decapitate my Basil, can I have him stuffed as a national treasure? Just a thought!

Well you can have him stuffed if you like, it depends if you are the weeping amourously kind like Isabella. I've a feeling you'd be more likey to toast him in a pot then drop a drink down to him.

My secret is discovered! My stalker knows more about me than I know about myself. Talking of drinks has made me thirsty; I'm off for a vodka - can I put basil in that? Basil is trying to put my vodka into himself - he's gonna get decapitated AND stuffed unless he backs off right now!

Hi katykicker, I was only talking about Basil Brush the other day, trying to explain who he was to my son. Boom boom. I have a collection of basil on the window sill which I water frequently so I can just nip the leaves off and add them to anything, I like them most on top of tomatoes soaked in olive oil as they seem to have the strongest flavour like that.

Hi friend, funnily enough another friend from India mentioned using Tulsi plants to adorn the outside of Indian homes but I didn't realise she was talking about basil, that was in my discussion about ornamental things on houses. That is such a co-incidence and I would have appreciated it more if I'd realised it was basil she was referring to. The Greeks also revere the basil plant and in this area they don't actually eat it but is more often seen in large tubs outside the house just as a plant. In Greek it's name is vasilicos which also means royal. I'm considered a bit strange as I do love to eat it whereas my friends don't.
I think most herbs have a medicinal value in them somewhere. It's certainly a small world though with the Tulsi and Basil both being highly regarded in both India and Greece.

Hmmm... you are right. This world is small.
Thanks for your comment. Happy Mylotting!!

Isabella and the pot of basil.

Isabella and the pot of basil

Aha, friend, thanks for the beautiful picture.
I just saved it.

You can't believe the trouble I had putting it on, my ten year old had to help me out in the end. I couldn't put it in the intro so I put it on your post as you apprecited the story in the poem my friend.

Hmmm... Thanks for considering me worthy of that.
I am sure your son is intelligent and co-operating, and you are just dying on him, as i have already noticed many times in your discussions and responses.
That` good. Thanks for your comment.
Happy Mylotting!!

Hi scarlet woman. I wonder if your pepper basil is the same variety that we have here. I too love to cook with it, it's particularly good in home made tomato soup and I love to throw handfuls into green salad leaves. Funnily enough as the Greeks in this area don't use it for cooking I was unable to find it on the food market and had to go to the florists for it.

it may be-you have to buy the plant from the nursery to get it.
the grocery only has "common basil" which is more of a greenish than the pepper basil.

Hi scarlet_woman, if it's the common type of basil I have I love it. I'm pretty sure that there is just one type out here and I can just see the reaction if I start asking for a new type. The pepper type I expect could be a foreign variety so would be a slur on the name of proper Greek basil, believe me if it isn't Greek it isn't proper.

Hi Mys, I expected to see you here knowing how much the Italians love basil. It's wonderful with olive oil, I often add some leaves to a bottle. I always freeze some too but hadn't thought of putting in cubes into freezer bags, a great tip I shall follow from now on. I have a glut of fresh frozen mint in my ice cube trays and when every one was full I just threw the rest in freezer bags and now of course they are all clumped together so thanks for introducing me to a new method which doesn't involve buying yet more ice cube trays.

By the way, do you love the story of Isabella and the Pot of Basil, Italian intrigue and all that, I adore it.

Hi Hatley, I believe that Isabella actually hid the head there so no one would know and then when they found it out they stole it and she went into decline. I don't think that she was so misguided into thinking she could actually re-grow him so to speak. I adore the story in the poem.
The smell of basil is divine, continue to enjoy it in your cooking.

Hello imsilver, you are lucky to have a knack with a basil plant, I'd love to have an overflowing one, I'm always worried my little things will die on me, I think of them as my growing food. I just have four small ones inside which I water several times a day, if I put them in front of the fan they'd just blow over but it sounds like a good idea. I don't find the scent that strong though until I'm near to it, whereas the sage and thymne which grows wild outside has a deliciously strong scent.

I love the looks of purple curly leaved basil. It has a stronger taste of anise than the all green kind does.

Gerty, I have never seen purple basil ever. Is it flowes or the leaves?

Hi mermaidivy, what a coincidence that you just saw your first basil plant today. You really don't know what you're missing out on, they are so simple to use. If cooking with them just add them at the last second, or rip the leaves up and throw them in with salad leaves. They really enhance the flavour of tomatoes, in fact I couldn't envisage tomatoes without basil leaves and olive oil. You can also put some leaves in a bottle of olive oil so that you can use basil infused oil as a dressing or to flavour with when cooking. They even make a wonderful addition to scrambled eggs. Try some and see if you like them. P.S. would you mind if I started calling you Ivy, I don't like to do it without checking first.

Hi tattylashes, it's the best isn't it. It is definitely my favourite all time herb but I've never tried it in curry, I think its flavour would be lost, I stick with curry leaves there along with the usual curry spices. It's heaven on top of roasted red peppers and tomatoes. I haven't got any outside the house as I tend to kill anything off out there, no green fingers at all.

well i usually use it in a very mild curry, i am not keen on them hot curries, i do agree though t's flavour would be lost in a strong curry, i also use a few leaves on a salad, i have pots of it growing outside, along with my peas, lettuce, runner beans, beets, carrots, potatoes, wild mint, corn, onions, cauliflower, i have already harvesed spinach my radish and onions and other potatoes i planted early this year and broad beans which were yummy it's my first time i have ever planted veggies and it worked...lol...i have a little part of the garden which captures the sun and when i plant my stuff, they get all of mother natures nourishment possible, plus the soil is nice and rich, i just planted broad leaf sage too...oh and rosemary...i love that stuff....so i have been living on food out of my garden for the best part of this year, i have even sent a mylot member some of my food and she loved it, also we have a farmers market every friday and i go there and sell what i can, it's not much money but it pays for more seeds for my garden plus i get great enjoyment out of watching things grow from a tiny seed to a fully grown food source, it's brill....

oh by the way, i just created a little gardeners website if you want to lean how to grow herbs and other things, so feel free to browse inside, there's not many people there right now but i call it my quiet little place, it's so peaceful, plus, it is helpful if you want to learn stuff about growing herbs and other stuf...your more than welcome to join if you like

heres the link...... http://mothernatureskitchen.ning.com/

Hi tattylashes, sorry I completely did not see your long response about your vegetable garden until just now. It must be so good to grow and enjoy your own produce, I don't do that as kill everything I touch but do enjoy going to gather the fresh produce from my friendly local fishermens gardens.
Re the herbs, I keep a couple of basil plants on my windowsill hanging on for dear life hoping I don't kill them off as use the leaves most days in salads. But I don't need to worry about the rest as there is an abundance of wild herbs growing just outside the house, mint, sage and thymne. The smell is wonderful. Greek mint does not look like English mint aend the one we were picking in spring was pretty hard to find as it grew flat on the ground, but I've since found 2 new varieties. I freeze the leaves in ice cube trays and add them to water for a refreshing drink.

i am at present growing wide leaf sage and rosemary, they are only small right now but they are smelling nice, i have 2 basil plants now, a friend dropped one off a few weeks ago, i have planted them in the gaeden and i can smell them from the back door, i love that beefy smell of basil, also i have started using them in salads, also my good friend abbey told me that i cna eat beetroot leaves, i didn't know that, i have been growing beets and threw all the leaves away, but i still have more out there, so the next time i pick some i will be using them in my salads too, my garden is looking great right now, i have alot going on out there, i have been eating out of that garden since early summer, hardly spent a penny on veg,.

Hi again tattylashes, now that's one thing I do enjoy in the tavernas is the beetroot leaves, just cook them a little and serve them cold in olive oil, they are the best bit. Basil is fantastic just sitting atop sliced tomatoes in olive oil, that brings out the flavour of the basil better than anything. We have so much wild sage all year and it smells divine but I tend to only use it with pork, or in a chicken stuffing, there isn't that much one can do with it. There's sage tea of course, just boil up the leaves, but I can't remember off hand what it's meant to be good for.
I think it's quite funny that one of our most popular salad dishes of beetroot with leaves usually ends up in your bin.

I might not do well growing veg or anything like that but my olive trees are on track this year to produce an abundance of olives by the winter, which means lots of lovely olive oil straight from my own trees

well i learn something new every day, i was not much of a planty person until this year, i got some seeds from a friend and i planted them and they turned out to be carrots, when i saw that work i made myself a little allotment, now i am growing all kinds, i love olive oil, but not keen on olives, strange i know but i find them to be a tad salty....as for the leaves and other herbs, i will be using them more in salads now that i know they work well with other salad food.

Good luck with all your growing Tattylashes, let me know if they all turn out, I may even be tempted to do radishes myself next year, big enterprise for me that.

i grew radish this year and they turned out great, it's my first time ever that i have ever grown anything so for a first attempt, i haven't done so bad.

you don't have to join but you can take a look at my little gardening website

http://mothernatureskitchen.ning.com/

i have posted pics of all the stuff i have grown, even radish....feel free to browse.

Thanks, I'll take a look at it tomorrow.

Hi Gerty, it's funny you mentioned that as I've just been inspired to post a picture somewhere else but am clueless. I need to find out how to do it and then maybe I can put a picture on of Isabella and the Pot of Basil, I so love that picture. I don't find basil keeps Greek mossies away, it's supposed to be lavendar out here but I feel safer just sticking to mosquito milk

morning gerty, thought you might like to take a look at my little gardeners place....no pressure though, but you can join and take a look if you like, it's new and i am still learning but maybe you could add some hints and tips from your gardening experiences...heres the link if you would like to see what it's about....

http://mothernatureskitchen.ning.com/