The First Basil Harvest

Early this morning I was out cutting the first basil harvest of the year.

Thanks to all the rain, the plants had exploded from 8-9" to almost 18", in less than four days.

My dad sells fresh local veggies to a nearby restaurant, but for some reason he has no luck growing basil. I, on the other hand, can throw it in anything, anywhere, and it will grow almost without a second thought (Dad got the apples, peaches, strawberries, blackberries and raspberry gene - I got the basil gene).

Knowing I'd be seeing him today, I went out and cut each spire of basil, about 9-10" long, thereby trimming off roughly 2/3 of the plant, so he could take this batch and sell it to the restaurant.

This photo above is what's left. A week from now, this plant will be at least half again as tall, and very bushy.

Here's the cut basil - huge, bright green, crisp leaves, and the fragrance is just *heavenly*.

A pound of fresh basil roughly fills the proverbial Walmart or Kroger's plastic bag.

Considering how easy it is to grow (except for my dad), and the new interest of restaurants to buy locally, try growing some basil - you never know when you'll find yourself with a new cash crop.