[Herbalist] strong basil

[Wes Will]

At 12:14 PM 6/26/01 -0500, you wrote:
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>Has anyone else ever had a basil plant begin to turn woody at the
>base?  Mine is beginning to look like a small tree.
>
>Despina

Yes.  I have a basil patch about 4 feet across; we've harvested several
large bunches from it already.  (Fresh pesto, anyone?)  The base of the
each of the plants is about as thick as my thumb  The plants are growing in
a raised-bed herb garden and they are trying valiantly to choke out the
sage bush (it might make it...I prune first on that side to help the bush
out), and the lemon balm.  (What a fight!  It's going to be a close thing
there!)  Basil will self-seed and take over, like almost any other mint.
This is Tuscan Blue basil, which does not breed true from seed, so I keep
propogating a few cuttings in pots over  the winter.  The scions from seed,
though lacking the beautiful bluish tones in their colouring, are just as
tasty.

Keep the bugs off (few seem to like the strong smell;  I've never had any
insect trouble in basil) and allow it to dry just a bit before watering to
keep the fungi down, and it ought to do fine.
--
Eoin Caimbeul