Growing Basil: Tips for the Kitchen and Bouquets

Basil has long been used in the kitchen. Its multifaceted use in drinks, dishes, and medicinal purposes makes it the perfect herb to plant in the garden. I would plant a lot of basil and regularly harvest the leaves to make my homemade pesto. When we started our small-scale flower farm, we knew basil would be an easy, first-year foliage to depend on.

I thought basil would be the perfect foliage to plant because every bouquet needs a bit of foliage, and I can harvest it to make pesto. It is ideal for both! Although it is perfect for both, I learned that basil for the kitchen and basil for bouquets needed to be different. We used Cinnamon basil for our foliage and Genovese basil for the kitchen. Although you can use the same basil for both, growing them is different, so it’s important to keep this in mind. I will talk more about this below.

Why We Love Basil

It smells delicious and tastes delicious!
Basil is super easy to grow.
Bees love it!
It’s multi-faceted.
Basil sprigs in a bouquet add a yummy smell to a summer bouquet.

Growing Basil

Growing Basil is easy. Just like Zinnias, basil really isn’t picky. Plant the seeds, provide light and heat, water and the basil will spring up.

We planted a lot of basil and didn’t ever worry about running out. It was a very prolific plant once it was established. I definitely don’t need to plant as much next year. We chose to plant Cinnamon Basil as our foliage. When left to flower, it produces a woody stalk – perfect for bouquets!

Once the basil sprigs have a few sets of leaves on them, you want to pinch them so that they know to grow multiple stems. Not only does pinching make the plant more prolific, but it also makes the plant grow taller and broader.

When your basil plant has three sets of leaves on each stem, pinch just above the first set of leaves on the main stem. You can also follow the main stem down to a “Y” in the plant where a set of leaves is growing and pinch there. After a couple of days, new stems will begin to grow.

We transplanted all our plants, and our basil went through a couple of days of shock before really establishing itself. Once established, it took off, invited bees, provided the perfect treat for our bunnies, and put on a display in our bouquets.

A Note About Growing Basil for Foliage AND Kitchen Use

Remember that when you let your basil get to the flowering stage of growth, all the energy it gives goes to the flowers, thus producing less leaves.

To use basil for foliage and the kitchen, plant different sections and varieties of basil so that you can harvest basil leaves from one section and let the other section go to seed or flower.

Growing Basil: Tips for Bouquets

I had never used basil as a foliage but when researching great foliage for flower farmers, basil was a top contender. Because we use basil for making pesto, I thought, might as well give it a shot. I’m so glad we did!

I didn’t know if I would like basil as my foliage in our bouquets, but I found out quickly that it not only is it a great foliage, it also works as a filler.

Harvesting Basil for Foliage

I let our basil go to seed. This means that I let it flower, which means fewer leaves, but for foliage, this is the way to go.

This is the perfect time to start cutting your basil because it will show off in a bouquet, and the flowers will continue to open up as the bouquet sits. My basil does best in a bouquet when the stems look like wood or become “woody.” Their stems are more substantial now than when they aren’t woody. You’ll find that the basil can stand up better in the bouquet instead of drooping.

You want to harvest your basil (like any flower) in cool temperatures, whether morning or evening. Harvesting in cooler temperatures always helps the longevity of a flower bouquet.

Growing Basil: Tips for Kitchen

I’m no chef, but I am a stay-at-home mom who loves good food and enjoys making my family a meal in the kitchen. The basil I plant for use in the kitchen is called Genovese basil, or sweet basil.

Basil as a Seasoning

I love basil as a seasoning; if it’s fresh, it’s all the better! I use basil in many of my dishes. I actually use it as a substitute for oregano, as I am not a big fan of the taste. Basil makes the dish taste great in place of oregano.

Basil is also great dried. We have a dehydrator to dry our basil and use in winter when our plants aren’t producing. This is a great way to save the extra fresh basil that would go to waste. However, this takes a lot of time, so we buy our dried basil at the store.

Basil in Pesto

Pesto is such a yummy sauce to add to paninis or pasta, but being dairy-free, I couldn’t find a good-tasting dairy-free pesto from the store. I started looking for a dairy-free pesto I could make. I found this recipe from A Couple Cooks and have made it my own over time, but the cashews make it more budget-friendly than the classic pine nuts.

Every year, I make multiple batches of this pesto to freeze so that we can have pesto all year long. It’s a great way to preserve the basil you grow in your garden! This is where all our basil goes because we get more bang for our buck.

Basil: The Multi-Faceted Herb

Get your basil growing early so you have it all season long! Basil can be used in many other ways than what we use it for. It’s so versatile, though, and tastes so good! There are also so many different types of basil that you can choose from. Cinnamon basil is excellent for bouquets, while the Genovese basil produces many large leaves.