We had a cook out last night and instead of lettuce, I decided to get a wild hair and use fresh basil leaves on my hamburger. How fantastic! I've never had anything so flavorful when it came to a hamburger.
Now I hear rumors that there's multiple varieties of basil that taste slightly different...oh educate me, ye masses! Tell me what basil to plant next year and what recipes I've got to try.
On a keychains for a cause note, Erin said she got her keychain in the mail today which is amazing since it only went out Saturday. And, because I had to do it, we've now got University of Georgia colors for our keychains! Go Dawgs! I could have wiped my finger prints off of the metal hardware before I took the picture, but where's the adventure in that? This is the key fob size shown.
October is breast cancer awareness month and one of our breast cancer awareness key chains is perfect for showing your support. Again, proceeds from the sales of any of our keychains go to support my school's American Cancer Society's Relay for Life team.EG, while I was looking for red UGA ribbon, I tried to find your Auburn colors, although it might just have killed me to do it, but I couldn't find the right blue. All I could find was Gator blue and that just wouldn't have worked one bit. I'll keep looking.
The morning comes early. Sweet basil eating dreams.
Robin, I'm so glad to hear that you're liking basil! A bad pesto experience sounds terrible, but if you've ever had really great pesto, you can't ever do without it. I've been growing just "regular" basil (don't even remember what it was called, maybe Italian?) this year, but I just found some seeds for cinnamon basil, so I'll be growing that as well. There's also thai basil that's great for thai cooking, but I don't have any seeds for those. I've also seen lemon basil somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI just blogged about propagating basil from cuttings. Have you ever tried it?
Oh, and unrelated to basil, another non-lettuce alternative for hamburgers or sandwiches that's really yummy is arugula. The slightly spicy flavor of home-grown arugula really perks up any burger or sandwich!
We like pistou basil in salads, it is a tiny globe variety. Mild and fresh tasting. Also, sweet genovese is a pesto favorite in our house. I also grew thai and lemon this year, but the others are my top 2.
ReplyDeleteActually, Thyme2garden, the basil plant I have in the ground now is one that was grown from a cutting my girlfriend gave me when she was incensed and outraged I had never grown any! I'll check out your blog entry now.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kelly! Have you done any of these from seed? The ones I tried to do from seed completely failed.
ReplyDeleteAck, I didn't really mean to call you Robin. I really meant Ribbit. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's cool that you're growing basil in the ground that was from a cutting! I'm hoping to regrow my cuttings in indoor containers this winter, but if they survive, maybe I'll transplant them in the garden next spring.
I know that, T2G! Don't worry in the least.
ReplyDeleteI love growing basil. Now that I have lots of it, I've been putting it in everything I cook. I'm growing Italian Genovese Basil which is a large leaf basil. I'm also growing Greek basil which is great for small containers. They taste about the same.
ReplyDeleteHi. I wandered into here from 'A Voice in the Garden' and have really enjoyed reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteI have grown ordinary basil and lemon basil, which are both good. Have you tried Rocket? It's a salad leaf with a peppery lick to it...scrummy!
I feel the carrot pain! I planted 5 rows of carrots last year and got ONE single carrot - large and perfectly carrot-like, but just the one! I threatened them this year that if they didn't grow then we were done! I've got 4 rows of lovely carrots and even the thinnings that I transplanted took and grew! Threaten them - it's the only way! :)
Thanks, Meemsnyc! Great advice.
ReplyDeleteNutty Gnome, thanks for reading! I haven't tried Rocket...spicy is still an avenue my taste buds reject.
The carrots and I came to an understanding. I'll keep trying and they'll keep thwarting, but sometimes, just sometimes, they may throw me a bone. I can threaten, but it's more like idle threats.
I personally don't care much for the purplish varieties, but I grow Genovese and Greek, they taste similar but the greek is neat as it can be shaped in a pot like a boxwood shrub almost! I also grow "Pesto Perpetuo", unfortunately it has an exclusive license and will not flower so it has to be ordered as a plant, but wow, it tastes amazing and the leaves are variegated lime green and white, very pretty! I would get some fresh seed if yours isn't sprouting since basil is famous for 200% germination (LOL) within about 12 hours :) Good luck, I love pesto - you can freeze it too!
ReplyDeleteHey Ribbit, botanical interests sells a seed packet that contains a blend of different varieties of basil. I particularly like the purple one. It also contains some lettuce leaf basil, which would be perfect for you hamburgers as the leaves are HUGE!
ReplyDeleteMMM... LEMON BASIL! It's a cross between regular basil and African I think? Anyway it has a very zesty hint to it I love. Just started some now for fall. :-) I grow Lemon and Genovese
ReplyDeletePS - Check in the mail today with an addressed label for you to use as well.
You do realize that you're headed down a dangerous road, right? It starts with just one basil type. Then it's 4 (and all of the above mentioned ones are fun tor try). Then you decide that English Thyme is good, but what about Lemon or Mint Thyme? And oh, there are different Oregano plants at the stand at the Farmer's Market this weekend. And what about... uh oh.
ReplyDeleteGenovese is my favorite and the only one I plant know. But what is basil without garlic?:) John
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