Advertising and Privacy Information
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.
Gardening adventures in a small space
Growing Herbs on the Balcony
- Annual
- Prefers full sun
- Enjoys moist soil conditions
- Grows 12-24 inches tall
- Easily grown from seed or transplants
Pesto is the main reason we grow basil. I've grown sweet basil for this purpose but recently switched to Genovese basil. Purple basil looks good but we never know what to do with it although it doesn't taste much different than any other "typical" basil. We find the sweet basil to be more mild than the Genovese
Basil needs warm weather to grow and it will not tolerate cool temps. I start my basil indoors from seed and always start them too early. The plants suffer in the cool spring temperatures - leaves shrivel and the plants don't appear to grow at all. And then the warmer temperatures come around and the plants perk up.
Basil does well in containers given enough sun and a good amount of water. And unlike other herbs that seem to enjoy poor soil conditions, basil craves the nutrients and does better a bit of fertilizer. There are many varieties to choose from and several are readily available as starter plants at garden centers. Like most herbs, once it flowers, it will not taste as good so we like to pinch the stems back to discourage flowering and force branching which means more leaves.
It is easy to make pesto but you need lots of leaves. In a food processor whiz up 1 packed cup of basil leaves with 2-3 tablespoons or "good" Olive Oil, salt to taste, perhaps garlic and pepper depending on your preference. This will yield about 1/4 cup of pesto. Blend in some pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds to add texture and crunch.
- Return to the Herbs List
- Continue with Chervil
