Health & Fitness Blog

Basil herbs are royalty, meaning “King”the name originated from the Greek word basileus. But you new that. Rumour has it that, many years ago, the Romans & Greeks associated the word and the herb became somewhat malicious. And get this… some good citizens believed that the only way to get herbs to germinate was to scream a curse at them. This has since proved to be incorrect but it is difficult to argue against the fact that basil herbs are a ’strongly perfumed’ if not too strong.

A bit further down the track, basil herbs represented of all things, love. The Italian stallions in Italy used to hand the girls a small bunch of basil to indicate their interest. In the food arena basil is mainly associated with Mediterranean style food as well as Italian & Thai dishes. But… what would you say if I told you this herb came from India, I thought so, gob smacked? Yep, Vishnu & Krishna ate it at every opportunity.

Growing Basil Plants

In some temperate regions, basil is often used as an annual and in tropical areas, it’s sometimes grown as a perenial. Wherever it’s growing, basil is quite sensitive to temperature and it grows better in warmer climates with lots of sunlight.

As far as soil goes, they prefer well drained soil along with good quality compost or well rotted manure. Basil requires a steady water supply to grow as well as adequate drainage. A lack of light as well as any sort of drought will quickly wilt the plant. In addition, gardeners will have to mulch just the right amount so as to maintain the soil, but not do so prematurely. When the plant starts to flourish it’s time to cut the stems back and cut off the flowers.

And don’t worry about cutting the flowers off, it’s that very act that gives us basil, surely the most flavorsome herb available. Try tasting the leaves prior to flowering, that’s when the flavor is the strongest.

The Many Uses of Basil

Although basil herbs do posses antviral & antibacterial benefits they’re not generally used as a homeopathic extract, they are best known for their benefits to cooking. Part of the mint family they do actually aid digestive processes as well as brewing a pot of tea.

With more then 60 varieties of basil, they say that there are many more yet to be unearthed. The most common of the variety used in the kitchen is sweet basil although lemon basil is a common ingredient for some soups & sweets. The basil family includes many varieties including, cinnamon, African blue & Opal.

Some of the basil available at retail outlets has been out for the ground for a long period and has lost its oomph. The benefit of having your own herb garden is your basil will be super fresh & full of flavor.

Just imagine the meals you could make with a fresh serving of real basil!

Before you go rushing out to spend money on herbs… check out some more insights from herb guru Peter Williams about what are basil herbs check out What Are The Best Herbs? Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory