basil - how do you preserve it?

[herbalwriter]

I have a lovely sweet basil plant in a pot - I would like to know some ways to preserve it as it does not dry well. Ideally, I would like to overwinter the plant indoors - has anyone done this successfully? I have heard basil does not do well indoors in winter. :think

Can it be pureed and frozen? Or frozen as is? Just curious...I don't want to waste it.

[freshwaterfish]

Why doesn't it dry well? My stepmom dries her in the oven on baking sheets... :shrug

[herbalwriter]

I guess I could dry it - it just doesn't have that fresh basil flavor when dried, and you can't use it in pesto. :shrug But it would be better than wasting it, and like I ever make pestos anyway. :rolleyes2

[freshwaterfish]

Well, you could always make pesto... :giggle... and keep it in the fridge...

[herbalwriter]

That's true! :mrgreen

I wish I could overwinter the plant.

[snlmama]

Where I live the basil live thru the winter - I just bring it in when it's going to freeze. But it won't live thru where my mom lives so she makes a bunch of pesto at the end of the season and freezes the pesto in little freezer bags. :yes

I'm thinking if you even chopped the basil and mixed it in oil or water it might freeze OK. :think You could experiment.

[canadiyank]

Yep, I think you can chop, mix with oil, and freeze.

Mine overwinter, too. Doesn't grow as much, but it doesn't die. :shrug

[herbalwriter]

Where do you ladies who overwinter your basils live? I live in WV, which is (I think) Zone 6...or 7.

[snlmama]

Where do you ladies who overwinter your basils live? I live in WV, which is (I think) Zone 6...or 7.


I'm in Central Texas. Zone 8. It gets below freezing 1-2 times a year for about 2 nights and I move the pot in then and then move it back out. My mom is in zone 7 and I think she *could* do that, but hers in planted in the ground and she doesn't want to mess w/ it (she will, however, make 7 giant batches of pesto to preserve it :giggle )

[canadiyank]

Zone 6

[herbalwriter]

I think I will try preserving a bunch of it in ice cube trays, but try to keep the plant alive after "harvest.' Then I may have the best of both worlds. :grin

[sienna]

My mother does this..

wash
dry v well
freeze.

thats it!

S

[SueQ]

If you have a window that gets a lot of sun, you can bring basil indoors and enjoy fresh basil all winter. :) You can also freeze basil not as good as fresh but better than dried. :)

[herbalwriter]

Can basil really make it through a winter indoors? Cool! Mine got frost bitten this year, but next year I will do that. Thanks!

[canadiyank]

Yeah, I had a basil plant that lived inside for years. :tu

[Rabbit]

It's really going to depend on how much light you can give it. And in some windows, in a really cold climate, it can overchill. You can try using a florescent light. It doesn't need a special grow light. I kept hundreds of houseplants going by hanging a shop light in my window, and setting it up with a timer. Visitors would sometimes get confused about the time while in my house, because the windows were still lit up behind the curtains. It helped me with seasonal depression, too.

-Natalie

[herbalwriter]

That's a good idea about the light. I have huge windows in my house, picture window types, so it would have to be in the big bay window in the living room (where all the other plants are huddled! :giggle) But with a flourescent light, I could maybe keep it in another window. What brightness/spectrum of shop light did you get, cool, warm?

[Rabbit]

That's a good idea about the light. I have huge windows in my house, picture window types, so it would have to be in the big bay window in the living room (where all the other plants are huddled! :giggle) But with a flourescent light, I could maybe keep it in another window. What brightness/spectrum of shop light did you get, cool, warm?


I got the brightest that I could get that would go in the cheap shop light I bought. I probably bought cool as I like that better. The plants don't really care.

-Natalie