Friday, July 27, 2007

Pruning Basil

Herb gardening is a convenient choice for every family, living in urban or rural environment. Don't be discouraged if you live in a small apartment and don't have a balcony, you can grow your herbs on a windowsill. All it takes is plant box(container), some potting soil, seeds or cuttings of your favorite herbs and you're on a right way of becoming a proud owner of a herb garden.

Basil is one of those herbs I can't stop growing, as well as using I might add. It's a pretty easy plant to grow and comes in lots of varieties you can choose from. Basil varieties differ in color, aroma, taste, leaf size
and flowers, and are commonly used as ornamental plants, as well as in culinary practice. It's also a very rewarding plant to grow offering a continual harvest of fresh leaves throughout the season. However, proper pruning is crucial when it comes to growing basil and will be the factor that will determine how much herb you'll be able to harvest. I might say pruning is a number one gardening tip when it comes to successful basil growing. I've already stated the importance of pruning in Pinching basil plants, but now I've made more photos, this time of my purple basil.

I prefer pruning, i.e harvesting my plants every week or so, and that way I always have enough fresh basil in my kitchen. Here's the flower forming, but it's going to be snipped off, with some leaves of course.



Here I'm pinching flowers off my basil plants.



A pinched off basil flower.



Taste some!




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