Earlier this week we had a light frost which meant it was time to collect the basil leaves! Without any real hope of the basil leaves surviving the sub 32 degree temperatures I gathered as much as I could. I brought the leaves inside and made pesto. The 6 cups of loosely packed basil I gathered ended up making only 3 1/2 cups of pesto, but when a 1/2 cup of pesto is enough for a family of four to use for a meal it suddenly seems like much more!
I separated the basil into 1/2 cup portions and put all that wasn’t going to be used this week into the freezer to use at a later date. I typically only store basil over the winter as a pesto but I do save and root basil cuttings to sustain us through the winter.
After the first frost I noticed that the Italian leaf basil did not hold up as well as the purple varieties (‘Dark Opal’ and ‘Purple Ruffles’) or as well as the ‘Spicy Globe’ basil. That might be worth noting if you have to prioritize your basil harvest due to time (Harvest the Italian basil first!)
How do you store your basil over the winter? P.S. Our gnocchi and four cheese ravioli with pesto meal was delicious!
my pesto always turns black when i freeze it, so this year i've been making basil jelly instead. from now on that is how i will store my basil and i'll only make pesto fresh.
I love pesto and need to make it soon. We didn't get the early frost in nashville~I am so very glad. I feel like we haven't had much of a gardening summer and having a longer autumn is helping. No color yet for your Fall Color Project, but soon! gail
I haven't stored basil before but I would like to. I'm a gardener and this year I grew my first basil. Kinda surprising that I've never grown basil before. Thanks for the tip of storing it in the freezer. I didn't know it would freeze well for later use.
Rowena,
I've never tried making a jelly from it! I may have to look into that. I'm hoping that the basil will recover some from the frost and produce more this season. I've not had trouble with blackening basil before.
Gail,
It really hasn't been a great gardening year – something about the crazy precipitation. No rain or too much neither is good!
Becca,
They say it will last up to 3 months in the freezer but we used ours even after 6 months. It's definitely a good food to have in the middle of winter!
I save my basil a few different ways. I dry some on a plate for several days then I chop it in the Magic Bullet…this is new to me this year and I am loving it! I also freeze some leaves in baggies and when I am ready to use them I just pull them out, crunch them up and throw them in whatever I am cooking. I have never done pesto, but will try one of these days when I get around to it. I also still have some in a paper bag in a cool room. I haven't decided if I will try bringing in some cuttings this year or not! I should! My favorite is the spicy globe basil. It has smaller leaves and is more tedious to de-leave but still good and reliable.
I grow basil every year in my flower gardens because I like the smell when I brush up against it. Never harvested it before.
Dave, I just pulled my three huge basil plants and put them in the yard bag. They got hit too hard to save, lots of black on them. We did have pesto a few times during the summer, so I don't feel too bad.
Eileen
Love the smell of basil. I've had several kinds over the yrs. Purple Leaf out there now in a pot.
I make pesto with half the oil and freeze it in ice cube trays, then transfer them to a ziplock. I add oil when I use it. I've never had a problem with it turning black. Vivid beautiful green!