Recently, we had the issue of our basil turning dark. After all your wonderful suggestions, we decided to try an experiment. When I was at the farm, I cut some and put it in jars of water right after cutting.
(Mason jars always come in handy, ha).
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| Cut basil in water |
Here they are after I cut them at the farm, fresh from the garden. I brought them back into town (thankfully they fit in the car cup holders!).
We changed the water daily and just left them alone...
We changed the water daily and just left them alone...
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| Basil cuttings in water |
...and here are the same cuttings exactly one week later. They are doing fine. Not that we'd wait a week normally but we wanted to perform this experiment to see how they would do. It's nice to know that treating them like cut flowers was a great idea, at least for transporting them back into town for later use and they won't be turning dark again.
Thanks for the suggestions!
If you leave them in for a few weeks, then they will sprout roots - so you can plant them in your garden for next summer, or, if you keep them under cover, they'll be there for use this winter :D
ReplyDeleteREALLY? Oh my gosh, I'm SO going to try that with a few sprigs this weekend. Thanks!
DeleteI think my basil is gone for the year, but I am going to Home Depot with Mom today and might see if they still have one in their garden section.
ReplyDeleteI ssw some at our local Home Depot last weekend. Hope you find some!!
DeleteAmazing how just a simple solution can do wonders.
ReplyDeleteI know! Night and day, ha!
DeleteWhat a great way to keep fresh basil on hand. I'm thinking it might be a great way to perpetuate it too, if it sprouts roots like Dani says.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try that this weekend! (well, start some and see what happens)
DeleteYou may discover that some of the stems start rooting, too!
ReplyDeleteThat's great to hear, thanks!!!
DeleteI love basil. That would have been in danger around me. I could roll in basil. I think it is an aphrodisiac for me.
ReplyDeleteLOL, now that made me laugh out loud, ha!!! "Catnip for you?"
DeleteBasil has gone bonkers here on The Poor Farm! Can't keep up with it. Running lots through my food processor with olive oil then freezing this pesto in ice cube trays. I'm a bit sick of the green cubes right now but this winter I know I'll be happy to have it for my bread and pasta.
ReplyDeleteIt does VERY well here too. We've made some pesto but use cheese and nuts, etc. do you just use basil and olive oil? Any particular ratio? Great idea!
DeleteSimple but great idea!
ReplyDeleteHey it works and kept us in "green basil" instead of black, ha.
DeleteOff topic..but did you see this article on spraying for zika mosquitoes kills bees?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/01/like-its-been-nuked-millions-of-bees-dead-after-south-carolina-sprays-for-zika-mosquitoes/?tid=sm_fb
Oh my, thank you so much for this article. How horrible. I mean, zika is horrible but as if the bees have don't have enough problems. Thanks!!
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