Time to get versatile basil in the ground

Thu., July 13, 2006

Pat Munts Special to Voice

This week in the garden

“Water. Deep soil moisture is good this year. Help it stay that way.

“Finish trimming back the early blooming summer perennials. Some will send out a second flush of flowers later in the summer. Trimming others, like basket of gold and candytuft, will help them stay bushy. Getting after others, like lady's mantle, before they set seed will save you hours of weeding later.

“Remove spring bulb foliage as it turns brown. Mark where they are so you don't dig into them later.

“Start cutting your lawn a little higher to help it during the hot weather.

“Hold off applying herbicides during hot weather. Heat increases the potential of the herbicides drifting onto desirable plants.

“If you are on the rural-urban boundary, check your property for potential wildfire hazards. Cut tall grass, trim shrubs close to the house and outbuildings. Limb up pine trees. Low-hanging branches can take a fire into the top of the trees.

“Continue watching for aphids and other bugs. Changes in temperature can cause bug populations to grow rapidly. Check with the Master Gardener Plant Clinic for proper identification of bugs and the recommended treatments, if any. The clinic is at 222 N. Havana St. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

All this hot weather has one garden herb very happy: basil. It’s time to plant the “herb royale,” the queen of herbs according to the French

Amend the soil with good, rich compost or rotted manure to encourage leaf growth and hold moisture. You can start it from seed or buy starter plants. If you buy plants, pick nice, dark green, stocky ones. Yellowed or leggy plants will probably not recover fast enough.

If you are starting from seed, plant them an eighth of an inch deep and cover lightly with a mulch to keep the soil moist. Basil sprouts in about a week and should be thinned to a plant every 8 to 10 inches after the first set of true leaves appears.

Once it is up and growing vigorously, mulch it to retain soil heat and keep weeds down. Keep the plants evenly moist.

Basil leaves can be harvested as soon as there are enough leaves to support the plant – usually about the first of August in my garden.

They are at their peak of flavor as the plant begins to set flower buds. As you harvest, you will be pinching the plant back, and it will continue producing as long as we have warm weather.

We are all familiar with what basil can do to tomato sauce and pesto, but when you harvest your crop, try a few new uses. Try tossing a few fresh leaves and flowers in a salad. Add it to potatoes, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower and spinach. Take it out of the kitchen and into the bath for an invigorating soak. An old medicinal use had a few leaves infused in wine as a tonic or drunk as a tea to aid digestion.

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