Basil is a fragrant seasoning that can bring magical effects to ordinary dishes and is easy to grow. Fresh basil and dried basil taste very different, almost like two completely different herbs. Of course, fresh basil is more flavorful than dried basil. Read this article to learn how to grow and harvest basil.
How to harvest and use basil is part of a series of tutorials on growing basil. The tutorial also includes sowing seeds, caring for basil, harvesting and using basil. If you want to learn how to harvest and use basil, follow along. Learn from this picture tutorial on growing basil.
How to harvest and use basil
1Harvest and topping. As the plant matures, remove the top two leaves when the basil is tall enough. If you look carefully, you will find that there are two young leaves at the base of each leaf. If you cut off the stem between them, these two young leaves will grow out. When topping, cut as close to the young leaves as possible, but be careful not to damage the two leaves. - Topping makes the plant more vigorous and encourages continued growth of strong stems and leaves. This will also allow the plant to grow bushier.
- Do not pinch off the lower end of the stem, otherwise the basil will grow thin and sparse. What you want is lush basil. So topping must be done from the top.
2Enjoy fresh basil. After washing the basil, you can use them to make a green sauce or use tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to make a tomato salsa. 
3Put the basil in the refrigerator. You may harvest more basil than you can eat in one meal, so plan to store it in the refrigerator. Wash the leaves, dry them, wrap them in paper towels and place them in an airtight crisper in the refrigerator. 
4Frozen basil. Its not a good idea to just freeze basil leaves. But if you puree the basil first, you can store it in the freezer for months. Put the basil into a blender, add a little water, and puree it into a puree. Then put the basil puree into a plastic bag and store it in the freezer. Take it out when needed.
DIY Tips
- If your basil seedlings are skinny and spindly, they may not be getting enough sunlight.
- Basil can also be planted directly in the garden, so you don’t need to cultivate them first, so you can choose varieties that grow quickly, such as lemon basil, which is a good choice. But actually, all basils grow quickly and prolifically, and you don’t need to plant them ahead of time.
- When direct seeding in the garden, make sure the surface of the soil is moist. But there are some rules against overwatering, saying to keep the surface of the soil slightly dry. But you must pay attention to the degree of dryness. Seeds or seedlings without deep roots are very fragile and can do a lot of damage to them once the soil dries out for a few hours.
- Water basil moderately, watering the flowers with warm water twice a day until the basil grows.
- You can also cross-culture basil with other plants. Basil is said to enhance the flavor of tomatoes and peppers, and also protects against worms and aphids.
Notes
- When watering, do not get the leaves wet. Unless you are doing a foliar spray or foliar fertilization - leaves can sometimes become infected with insects.
- Don’t overlook the opportunity to grow basil. There are many unexpected varieties of basil, choose the one that is most useful and interesting to you to grow.
- When moving basil from indoors to the garden, make sure you gradually acclimate the basil to the outdoor environment rather than suddenly moving it outdoors and leaving the basil unable to adapt to the change.
Planting basil
How to sow basil. Illustrated tutorial on growing basil
How to Care for Basil Illustrated Tutorial for Growing Basil
