Growing Better Basil

Growing gourmet basil doesn't have to be hard. The sweetest basil leaves come from the new growth, so the key is to keep your plants producing tender new stems all summer. Here are a few pointers to help maximize your crop.

1. Plant in full sun, and give each plant about a foot of space, to encourage lower branching.

2. Pinch off the flower spikes at the tips of the plant every other week.

3. Fertilize once a month with a balanced fertilizer.

The fertilizer will prolong leaf production, and all of the branches will continue to produce fresh leaves, as long as they are not allowed to bloom! Once the plants have bloomed, they will stop producing tasty new growth, and should be thinned out. Start a few seedlings mid July, to replace bloomed plants that need to be pulled during the hot part of the summer.