Basil - The Most Valuable Herb

Who doesn't like Basil? It is one of the most valuable herbs to have in your garden & tastes yummy with those home grown tomatoes. People say it is easy to grow, but I find it tricky here in the cooler climates. Basil likes warm conditions, early Spring sowing is not advised, unless you are lucky enough to live up north (like capsicums & tomatoes, I don't bother until Melbourne Cup) . Thats unless you have a hothouse. Or you could start the seeds in a pot inside. 

Basil Sweet : (Ocimum basilicum) Labiatae, Annual

Basil Bush : (O. minimum) Labiatae, Annual.

Propogation: seeds, late spring, early summer

Position: Sunny, sheltered

Soil: light to sandy, well drained

Height: Sweet basil, 75cms. Bush basil, 30cms

Part Used: leaves

There are a few different types of Basil, Sweet Basil is the one most commonly used in cooking. In cooler climates, the basil bush will remain quite compact, but help it along with regular pruning. The more you prune, the more you will need to feed. Whatever type you get, use the foliage size as a guide. The bigger the leaf, the more shade tolerant it will be. The purple variety will fade in full sun, so try to place it so it will get morning sun, but be shaded in the hot afternoons. Frost will kill basil, so make sure you harvest by April. Basil LOVES to be fed, so keep up the liquid fertiliser - seaweed, worm wee, liquid manure etc. It doesn't like chook poo though. Keep the soil moist. Caterpillars & snails do love to munch on basil.

Make a hothouse

History:

Basil originated in India, & was regarded as a sacred herb. There are many legends written about basil from Rome, Egypt & Greece. Basil was prescribed to draw out the poison from stings & bites.

Cultivation:

 Basil must have warm conditions, early Spring planting is not advised.  It is very frost tender. Even a cold change could kill a basil plant. Sow seeds directly into the ground in shallow holes. Give the soil lime if it is too acidic. (2 weeks before planting) If you have heavy soil, try adding some sand to the soil. When the basil is 8cms high, thin out to 30cms between plants. As the plant grows, it is important to pinch out the centre to encourage a bushy habit.

Bush basil grows well in a pot. Sow 3-4 seeds into a pot filled with good quality potting mix, water well, & keep moist. When the seedlings are 8cms high, leave the sturdiest looking plant in the pot, & pinch out the rest. Basil will not grow as an inside plant, so place on a sunny patio, a window sill, where it will get sun & fresh air.

Harvesting & Processing:

It is necessary to harvest basil by early Autumn before the cold weather kills them. In hot climates, basil grows all year round & self sows. The more you pick your basil, the better it will thrive. For the best flavour, cut long, leafy stalks for drying before the plant comes into flower, spreading out in a shady place to dry. Do not hang in bunches, as it will not dry quick enough. Oven drying will scorch the leaves. Fresh basil may be chopped finely, mixed with a little water & frozen in ice cube trays. Try making basil butter, pesto or basil icecream.

Culinary:

Basil goes brilliantly with tomatoes, tomato based recipes & excellent with egg plant, zucchini, marrow, squash & spinach. Added in the last 1/2 hour of cooking, it adds bite to pea or lentil soup.

It tastes great with cream cheese, lifts a green salad, or sliced cucumber & a must for the pasta dishes. Goes with chook, veal, liver, kidney, fish or shellfish & makes a savoury vinegar, when you steep the leaves in vinegar for a few weeks. 

Companion Planting:

Basil helps to enliven & stimulate vegetables in the garden, especially tomatoes. Basil can help repel white fly. Do not grow near Rue.

Basil Pesto

1 1/2 Cup Basil
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
2 Cloves garlic, halved
3/4 Cup Parmeson Cheese
5 Tblspns Olive Oil

Roast the Pine nuts in an oven for 10 mins, on 180 degrees. Place all ingredients but the oil in a food processor & blend, gradually drizzling the oil in when blended. 

Basil & Zucchini Soup

2 Tblspns olive oil
1 med onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 Zucchinis, roughly chopped
3 Cups water
2 chicken stock cubes
2 tspns sugar
1 Tblspn lemon juice
1 Cup Basil

This recipe is low in fat & freezes well. It tastes nicer the day after.
Heat oil, add garlic & onion & heat until the onion is soft. Add zucchini, water, stock, sugar & lemon juice. Bring to boil then simmer until zucchini is soft. Stir in basil & stir for 5 minutes. Blend or process, then return the soup to the pan & reheat. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt, or sour cream, or sprinkle with parmeson cheese & more basil.

Basil & Tomato Salad:

Thinly slice freshly picked home grown tomatoes and lay them on a serving plate. Thinly slice a red onion and scatter on top of tomatoes. Season by shaking salt and ground black pepper on top.
Pick your home grown basil, stems and all.
Pick the larger leaves off the stems and set side.
Place the smaller leaves and the stems into a saucepan with ½ Cup balsamic vinegar, ½ Cup olive oil and 1 Tb brown sugar.

Bring this salad dressing to boil, then simmer gently until it is reduced by half.
Strain the dressing to remove the basil leaves and stems.
Drizzle dressing over the salad, then garnish with the larger basil leaves you set aside.

Coriander

Coriander ( sometimes known as Chinese parsley) is the most commonly used & grown herb in the world.  Coriander has a lacy, feathery foliage & has a pungant citrus flavour you either love or loath.With Coriander being used in so many warm climates, you would think it was a sun loving plant, but that is false. If you try to grow it in the Summer months, it will immediately bolt to seed. One great trick to beat this, is to plant it among nasturtiums, which protect & shade the Coriander. So Coriander is basically a Winter herb.

Coriander also suffers terrible root transplant shock due to the long tap root. If you buy seedlings, you may lose quite a few of them, as they turn up their toes from shock. Sowing seeds in late Autumn, into pots or straight in the garden, will prevent this happening. As our area is a "cool" climate, I am quite confident of planting now, & getting a good crop before it turns warm.

Coriander: (Coriandrum sativum) Umbelliferae, Annual

Propogation: sunny, sheltered

Soil: light, well drained

Height: 45-60cm

Part Used: leaves, seeds

Cultivation: Before planting, choose a position which is sunny & sheltered. Young plants do not like cold winds & will fall over.  Work the soil, add lime if too acidic. Coriander seeds remain fertile for 5-7 years. Sow seeds in Spring or Autumn, directly into ground 12mm deep & 30cms apart. Cover & pack the soil down well. Keep moist til the seedlings pop up. Water regularly in hot weather, in late afternoon so not to scorch the plant. They may need staking as they get older. There is now a "slow bolt"  Coriander variety, so ask at your nursery. Another method is to plant the seeds directly into a pot, with good potting mix. Place the pot in a sheltered semi shaded area. As the seeds pop up, place the pot in more sun to encourage stronger plants.

Harvest & Process: Fresh leaves can be picked any time. Dry the leaves in a warm airy place & crumble off the stem & store in a glass jar. For freezing, parcel up fresh washed sprays in foil, fold edges firmly & freeze for several weeks. To harvest the seeds, cut off the heads, dry on sheets of paper in a shady place, expose to the sun if you can. Shake the seeds, sieve any stems out & place in an airtight container.

Companion Planting: Coriander, when planted near anise, helps the seeds to germinate & grow into bigger, healthier plants. Coriander has the opposite effect on fennel, where it hinders seed germination. Coriander likes the company of chervil. Bees love the Coriander flowers.

Medicinal: Hippocrates & other Greek doctors used Coriander in their medicines. The seeds work well with carbohydrates, so it was used extensively in breads & cakes. Coriander water was used to ease windy colic. Ground seeds or fluid extract was often used for gripe. The seeds, crushed & inhaled, will relieve dizziness. It is believed to purify the blood & often prescribed for urinary tract & kidney stones.

 Coriander chicken skewers

Preparation time: 30 minutes + 30 minutes marinating

Cooking time: about 6 minutes
Makes: 20

1/2 bunch coriander
1 lime, rind finely grated, juiced
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons peanut oil
800g chicken breast fillets

1. Cut the coriander to separate the leafy top section from the stems and roots. Wash the roots, then roughly chop the roots and stems, reserving the leaves.

2. Combine the coriander stems and roots, lime rind and juice, sauces and oil in a small food processor or blender. Process until almost smooth, and pour into a shallow, non-metallic dish.

3. Trim the chicken and cut diagonally across the grain into 5mm wide strips. Add to the marinade and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, soak twenty 16cm bamboo skewers in cold water for 20 minutes.

4. Thread the chicken onto the skewers. Cook on a hot barbecue or char-grill for 2-3 minutes each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Serve sprinkled with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Mexican Pesto

2 Cups Coriander

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tblspns unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup olive oil

Blend & mix all together until smooth. Store in fridge & use on pasta, chicken & vegetables.

Snow Pea Salad

4 tbspns red wine vinegar

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp ginger, minced

1/2 kilo snow peas - blanched & chilled

1 head red lettuce

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves

Combine vinegar, mustard, olive oil, & ginger to make sauce. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl, add dressing & toss lightly.

Salvia -Beautiful & Versatile

Ahhhh,  the Salvia.  No Cottage garden would be complete without this lovely perennial. The colours are vibrant  (blue, mauve, cerise, pink, red, white and orange) & there are so many varieties, suitable for all climates, as the Salvia has originated from all over the world. Most love full sun & part shade, but there are the salvias that tolerate cold temperatures & frost.

The Salvia is easy to grow & cultivate. They can be grown from cuttings (yay). They attract bees, butterflies & birds to your garden. Some have a wonderful scent. Most Salvias will bloom all year round, & some are extra showy in Autumn. You only need to give them a hard prune in Winter to encourage new growth in Spring. Sage is a form of Salvia.

There are 900 species of Salvia, the largest genus in the Mint family (Laminaceae). They vary in height, from 30cms (Bonfire) to 3 metres tall & wide, with tall spires of flowers. The BEST thing about Salvias that most will thrive in dry conditions, but will also tolerate wet, wet conditions too.

Salvia farinacea

Salvias teamed with yellow yarrow.

Winter Growing Options

Many Salvias will wind down in Winter - a sign to cut them back to ground level, but there is a group of cool climate Salvias that grow strongly through Autumn & Winter.
Many of these varieties are large (up to 2.5m's). If you plant these among the Summer/Spring varieties, you will have a constant array of flowers all year round.
One such variety  is the fruit scented sage (dorisiana).

Gardening Ideas

Salvias can be planted individually, or as mass plantings to create a block of colour, or as path edging (plant the aromatic ones so you can brush against them). Bonfire & Victoria Blue are often planted this way. Plant with ornamental grasses or tall growing perennials like gaura, dahlia, rudbeckia and plectranthus.



Top Choices

Mexican Sage

S. elegans - Pineapple Sage:   It has spires of red flowers for months. The flowers are very attractive to birds. It is frost hardy but remains more compact in colder climates.

S. leucantha - Mexican Sage: thrives in low water gardens, masses of velvety white purple tipped flowers. Partially frost tolerant

Waverley: a great starting out Salvia as it is hardy & has a huge array of  mauve flowers. Grows to 1.2m &is happy in full sun or shade.

Wendys Wish - a newish plant, only discovered in 2008. It is tolerant to temperatures of -2. A compact bush with cerise flowers.

Hot Lips

Indigo Spires: Spires of purplish blue flowers, hardy & perfect for the beginner garden. When stems reach 20cms, pinch back to create a denser bush.

S x jamensis -Hot Lips: A small, tough, & hardy perennial that has masses of red tipped white flowers - 60cms.

Wendys Wish

Salvia Care:

Varies with each plant, but as the flowers fade, the plant will need a good prune, by a 3rd at least, or create a ball shape. This will encourage more flowers.
When the plant is looking straggly, look for any new shoots & cut back to that height. Give the plant a good feed to help it recover & it won't take long for the flowers to be back.
Every 2-4 years, dig the plant up with a fork, use a sharp spade to cut into 2 to 3 plants. Tidy up the dead wood & replant.





Enjoy

Gardenia Trellis

Super Kale - Brassica oleracea

I have just planted 3 varieties of Kale (known also as Borecole). It is a wonderful Winter plant, & I think we have some more serious cold weather to come to benefit planting now. Like all brassicas (ie cabbage) it is prone to bug attack, so keep your snail & slug traps primed.

You might have heard of kale – proclaimed to be a ‘superfood’, this leafy green vegetable has some pretty impressive health benefits that you should be taking advantage of!

Kale is a fantastic source of a variety of different vitamins, all of which serve important purposes in keeping you fit and healthy. Starting at the beginning of the alphabet, kale contains impressive levels of vitamin A, which is important in helping to ward off infection. It’s also a great source of folate (a B vitamin). Folate is important in the diet, as a deficiency can lead to increased risk of stroke, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and depression – and who wouldn’t want to minimize their risk of developing these conditions!

Vitamin K is important for regulating blood clotting – and you guessed it, kale is a fantastic source of this important vitamin. It’s also a great source of alpha-lipoic acid, which is impressively versatile in it’s ability to be of benefit to a variety of different cells. 

If you’re worried about the health of your eyes as you age, kale may just be your new best friend. This is because kale contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which is important in lowering the risk of age-related eye diseases. Kale is a MUST superfood if you are pregnant. Below is a more comprehensive list of health benefits.

Why Grow Kale?

• Easy to grow. Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 8°C and 30°C. 
• • Space plants: 40 - 50 cm apart
• Harvest in 7-9 weeks.
• Compatible with: Dwarf (bush) beans, beets, celery, cucumber, onions, marigold, nasturtium, rhubarb, aromatic herbs (sage, dill, camomile)
• Avoid growing with: Climbing (pole) beans, tomato, peppers (chilli, capsicum), eggplant (aubergine), strawberry, mustard

 Kale is a good addition or substitute for cabbage varieties. There are 4 main varieties grown, but the varieties include: Red Russian, Siberia, Red Ursa, White Russian, Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch, Konserva, Redbor, Winterbor, Premier, Hanover Salad, & Stanbor.

Very winter hardy. Flavour is improved by frost. Ornamental varieties are colourful, and edible. Rotate with other crops to avoid clubroot infection. Most good nurseries carry some varieties of Kale, but it can be hard to find. I bought mine from the wonderful Woodend Nursery.

Tuscano - milder taste, great in salads

Savoy - tough & harsher taste

Curly Winterbor

Red Russian - mildest

Tuscan Black Palm Kale

Health Benefits of Kale:

1. Kale is a good source of calcium, vitamin C, Vitamin K and carotenoids.
2. In Japan kale juice is a dietary supplement.
3. Supposed to be loaded with substances that can help protect from cancer, cataracts, emphysema and rheumatoid arthritis.
4. All the natural phytochemicals like suforaphane and indoles are present which protect against cancer. It is said to help by detoxifying cancer causing chemicals. It was reported in the Journal of Nutrition (2004) that sulforaphane stops breast cancer cell proliferation.
5. The carotenoids that are present in it are good for vision improvement. Kale has 7 times the beta-carotene of broccoli and 10 times more lutein.
6. Vitamin C is good for cold prevention.
7. Minerals such as iron, manganese, calcium and potassium add to the health benefits of kale.
8. Kale is also rich in fiber which is absent in most of the American diet which has steered to frozen and processed foods.
9. Though a small portion of kale has only 36 calories, it has about 192% of Vitamin A . 
10. Cholesterol lowering benefits are also present due to it fiber related compounds.
11. Kale’s cancer lowering Isothicyanates (ITC’s)made from glucosinolates are said to play the role in cancer reduction.
12. The Isothicyanates also help detox at genetic level.
13. Kale has plenty of the antioxidant Vitamin E.
14. Over 45 different flavonoids are found in Kale with kaempferol and quercetin topping the list. The flavonoids have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Kale is used commonly in soups, salads, omelets, sautéed with onions and garlic or can be used as a pizza topping. Its health benefits can't be ignored.

Kale Chips

Ingredients

• 10 kale leaves (on a stalk)
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
• 2/3 tsp ground cumin powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Tear the leaves away from the stalks and cut into 2-3 cm pieces with scissors or tear with your hands.
3. Wash and dry the leaves in a salad spinner or pat dry with some paper towel. You can also shake off the excess water before cutting the kale.
4. Toss kale leaves with olive oil, spices & sea salt. Scatter in a large oven tray and bake for 15 minutes tossing them around every 5 minutes to prevent burning and to make sure they dry out and roast evenly on all sides. Depending on your oven and the amount of leaves you can fit in your tray, you might only need 12 minutes to roast the chips. You can also do them in two batches.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes