A nice surprise

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For some reason I never seem to have much success in growing basil from seed (I know, it’s really easy, right?) so instead I usually buy one of those pots of ‘growing herbs’ from the supermarket. Since each pot is basically a pinch of seed scattered on some compost and hot-housed until it’s big enough to eat, I get a well-grown bunch of seedlings for not much more than a packet of seed. Then when I get home I can divide the clump into several smaller clumps, pot them all up and have enough basil to last me all summer (and to freeze for winter too, although the taste is not at all the same). The other day I picked a few sprigs of basil to use in cooking, and popped them into a vase of water until we were ready for them. But as it turned out not all the sprigs got used. And then I was away for a week. When I got back I was surprised to find the remaining sprig had grown roots! I hadn’t realised basil was quite so easy to propagate. Maybe I can try to keep a few young plants over winter on the kitchen windowsill. Even if we don't eat them I can still enjoy just sniffing them! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2022.