Greens & herbs
Basil
Transplant in April; cuts until frost.
- Outside
- Transplant or direct sow in April
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Even moisture; deep early soaks, about an inch a week
- Harvest
- May to the mid-November frost
Care
- Water
- Steadier moisture than the dry-side herbs: mulch the bed, water deeply in the early morning, about an inch a week and more in August. Skip any week that brings half an inch of rain, and water the soil, not the leaves.
- Sow
- Buy a plant or direct sow in April, once the soil is warm. Basil is a spring buy or sow here; the January indoor bench belongs to tomatoes and peppers, and it is not on it.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost worked in at planting carries it. Go easy on nitrogen from there; it puffs up soft, bland leaves. Hold feeding through July and August, when the county rule is to feed nothing.
- Ready
- Cut whole stems just above a leaf pair and two shoots break from the cut, so every pick thickens the plant. Pinch off flower spikes as they rise to keep the leaves coming.
- Trouble
- Cold, not heat, is the trouble here: a late cold snap after an April set-out blackens basil, so keep a row cover handy for cold April nights. The summer that ends the cool-season herbs is the season basil grows through.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 1–2 gal bag.
- Water
- A bag in a Killeen summer wants a daily check and water until it runs from the drainage holes, twice a day in a heat wave. Give it afternoon shade and set it on soil, not a hot deck.
- Feed
- A bag leaches with every watering, so a weak fish and seaweed drink every couple of weeks keeps it cutting; still go easy on the nitrogen, and hold the feed when days top 90F.
- Sow
- One plant per 1 to 2 gallon bag, the container guide's small-herb class; sizing up is the kind thing in this heat, since larger pots do not dry out as quickly.
Basil is a longer, easier crop here than in short-season gardens: transplant in April after frost and it cuts from May until the mid-November frost.
Growing
April is the month, once frost danger passes and the soil has warmed. The Texas herb sheet pairs basil with tomatoes, planted near them to deter flies and mosquitos, and the pairing suits the bed here too. Harvest by cutting stems back to a leaf pair, which doubles the branches, and pinch every flower spike the moment it shows. Heat is not basil's problem; cold is. The stand cuts all summer and only the frost ends it, so cut hard ahead of the first cold nights and take the last leaves before they blacken.
In the kitchen
Pesto in batches, frozen flat and snapped off by the square all winter, and whole leaves over tomato sandwiches while both crops run. A plant set beside the tomato row pays twice.