My pots of basil are lush and full. The leaves leave a glorious scent. I snipped a few bunches just to put them in a glass of water. They perfume the kitchen. And now they’re growing roots. Can they be potted for the winter?
What else can I do to preserve my basil and have its leaves available to pop into winter pasta? Can I freeze the leaves? Dry them?
Preservation of the tangy taste of basil–that’s what I’m after. I’m going to freeze a few leaves and see where that takes me. Any suggestions? My first attempt consists of laying the leaves out on a sheet of waxed paper, freezing them singly and then popping them into a freezer-proof plastic bag.
So, here’s step one:
Basil bound for the freezer
on its little boat of waxed paper.
Out of town for two weeks. A neighbor waters the garden. What a surprise when we get back: In the deer-protected garden, an overgrown plot with half a dozen ripe tomatoes and dozens of over-ripe green beans. To say nothing of weeds. The zucchini is thriving and appears to have a baby zucchini on it. What a thrill to harvest the tomatoes, even if two have been started by slugs or small animals unknown to me.
But the beans! What can you do with the puffy, tough over-ripe harvest? I open a few to take out the beans–could these be planted for another crop of beans? 
[LJ says use them as you would dried beans. They take less time to cook--between, say, 25 and 45 minutes depending on how long they've been on the vine. Just simmer them in water to cover by 2 inches with some aromatics and a little olive oil for flavor. Like dried beans, they can go in soups and stews. You also can dress them in vinaigrette while still warm for a nice salad.]
Up in the herb garden, the mint is poking its heady stems out from under the hydrangeas and threatening to overtake the chive and parsley. I pull some of it from its roots. Some one has to take charge here. The basil is a castle in the air. It, too, needs a pruning, but not from the roots.
The pot garden is faring better. Nothing overgrown here. The tomato plant is hosting two teeny weeny green tomatoes. The zucchini appears to be bearing the smallest of fruit. But the leaves look healthy all around. They have survived my absence–thanks to a caring neighbor.
What of Les Jardins garden? She, too, was away for a few weeks. Her raised beds have gone to pot–nothing salvageable there. She calls it a disaster! But her tomatoes in a pot are glorious–rich and full leaves and plenty of starter tomatoes.
Pots seem to be the preferred way to go this wet year.
Basil is flourishing in the garden plot and clay pot–growing so tall it needs to be pruned back. What to do with those clipped leaves.
I checked in with The Bitten Word and found a delightful last-minute use: Chop up a handful of leaves and add them to an oil and vinegar dressing. The Bitten Word suggests champagne vinegar, olive oil, a pinch of red pepper and some garlic. Sounds great but almost any oil-vinegar combo would be perked up by adding chopped up basil leaves.