Bye-Bye Basil

If your basil looks anything like the picture below then you might not have been aggressive enough with your scissors this summer. Not that I’m casting blame. Every plant in my front garden has grown tall and lanky despite my best efforts.   I think local weather this season was conducive to bolting.

While the flowers may be fun to look at they aren’t exactly indicative of good flavor. Sweet basil flowers like a cranky old man.  Tough leathery leaves have a bitter taste and aroma fairly reminiscent of their tender youthful past. Trimming at this point wont do you much good so now is a great time to yank your plants and devote an evening to pesto.

I’ve pulled all my sweet basil and plucked the most tender leaves while discarding the large tough ones at the base. As for pesto recipes this one works fine. I made a massive double batch and used it all week to flavor pastas and drizzle over garden fresh tomatoes. With the recent heat and humidity it’s hard to believe summer will soon slip away. Devour what’s left of it while you still can.

Flowering Basil