Basil, tips for growing

I love basil.  Everything about it screams fresh, fresh, fresh.  It adds flavor to many dishes and is so full of summer flavor.

But when I first started growing it, my plants looked scraggly and didn’t grow very big.

Then I learned this awesome trick…

If you pick off the flowers, it turns into a large bush!  Who knew?

This is what the flowers look like just before they open.

This is what they look like after they begin to flower.

Before the flowers ever get to this stage (as in, as soon as you see them starting to form) pinch them off right at the base of the flower.  If there are any leaves with them, you can use these to eat of course.

Each time you pinch off a flower, the plant will grow two new stems, which will eventually turn into two more flowers, which you will eventually pinch off which will turn into 4 stems.  Thus turning the plant into a bush.

This is what my basil plant looks like this year.  Mmmmm, pesto!

(Insert picture of my basil plant)

I hope you find this tip helpful.  I know I loved it when I first learned it.

Now go and pinch some flowers.