3 Of The Best Ways to Use Thai Basil

1. Plant an herb basket
2. Coconut Red Curry Soup
3. Propagate for more plants

One of the best ways to use basil plants is to cook with them fresh. Basil is a tender plant that dries well but is not used for crafting like its woody counterparts i.e. rosemary, lavender, and sage. It is technically a perennial but only in tropical areas that stay hot and humid.

So for us poor Northerners basil is only an annual. Sad! But not the end of the world…quite.

Overwintering Basil

This tender herb needs to be brought indoors near the end of September or October depending on your Last Frost Date. If you are not sure what your zone is you can check it here by postal code in the USA. Since we are in Idaho our frost dates are typically the very end of May and the first part of June. Which doesn’t give us a long growing period.

I usually plant a little bit earlier than these frost dates and just watch the weather on a day to day basis. I need to extend my growing season and can do this in a number of different ways.

Extend Growing Season

The first thing that I do to extend my growing season is to start my plants indoors next to a sunny window or with a grow light. That extends my seed growing season by weeks which is amazing!

The next thing I do to extend my growing season is to plant things in walls of water. These great little inventions have kept my tomatoes and basil plants warm as early as April when I just can’t stand the wait anymore and need to get things in the ground.

Basil Projects

Herb Baskets

Ok now that we’ve talked a little about how to protect the basil that you are going to grow lets talk about what to do with it.

You can dry basil and use it in many dishes such as Marinara Sauce. Thai basil however, is best fresh and looks beautiful if kept as a live plant.

Herb Baskets are a great way to display your herbs. I love a gorgeous basket overflowing with leafy herbs grouped together in different sizes and styles of baskets. And once the season comes to an end you have a convenient little basket that you can carry into your house without having to disturb the roots of your plants.

Recipes

The very best way to use Thai Basil is in a garden fresh recipe. One that uses lots of produce from your summer garden.

Recipes from Thailand often include Thai Basil but it is not easy to find everywhere in the United States as of yet. That is one reason that I always have to grow my own so that I know that I will always have it on hand for my red curry cravings.

One of my favorite dishes to use Thai Basil in is in our Coconut Red Curry Soup. This soup is a few fresh ingredients and is so warming and delicious. It is definitely a must try for those who like curry.

Propagate

Herb plants are very easy to propagate and basil is probably the easiest of them all. Just snip of a length of the sop stem, about 4 inches in length, and place it in some water and place that in a warm sunny window. That’s it! Easy Peasy. Keep your eye on the water level to make sure the stem stays submerged and in just a few short weeks you will see beautiful lengths of healthy root ready to be planted.

Let’s Do THIS

So now that you have some basic basil information in your arsenal let’s get planting! We love to see your projects so be sure to share your photos with us over on Instagram @sweetolivefarms1