Tomatoes and Basil Love Strawberry Jars

Elisabeth — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:31:00 GMT

My old blue strawberry jar officially gave up the ghost last year. Now I am going to buy a new one and I know exactly what I will plant in it come spring. A healthy cherry tomato plant will go into the wide mouth at the top and six different kinds of basil will fill up the six pockets. Basil and tomatoes are great companion plants. Both like lots of sunshine and water, and the strongly-scented basil helps keep pests off the tomato. The two taste great together as well.

With tomatoes and basil planted in one strawberry jar, I will have the beginnings of a vegetable garden in a single pot on my back porch. If only I could grow mozarella in a pot, I would have everything necessary for a perfect summer feast.

Basil Dilemma

Elisabeth — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:35:00 GMT

I love pesto sauce. I love spaghetti sauce. I love baked chicken breasts with a Parmesan-basil crust. In short, I love the flavor of basil (Ocimum basilicum). That's why I am going to grow pots of it on my porch and in my garden this year.

The problem is choice--there is almost too much of it. Of course I will grow the Genovese basil, which is extremely aromatic and perfect for pesto. Thai basil (Ocimum basilicum citriodorum) has an interesting flavor as well as beautiful flowers that are attractive to butterflies and other pollinating insects. The paradox is that in order to keep the leaves of any basil from becoming bitter, you have to clip off the flowers. That being the case, I may grow the 'Siam Queen' variety of Thai basil in a large container along with one of the red-leafed basils like O. basilicum 'Purpurescens'. I will clip the young leaves of the Thai basil before the plant flowers and freeze or dry them, then allow the flowers to grow unclipped. The combination of the Thai basil's flowers and the red-leafed basil's leaves should be wonderfully decorative.

For those with deer, groundhog, rabbit or other varmint problems, the good news is that basil doesn't generally please these garden marauders. You can also interplant it among more susceptible species to help confuse the animals. Basil and tomatoes work very well planted together, just as they do on the dinner plate.

Growing Wise : basil

Tomatoes and Basil Love Strawberry Jars

Basil Dilemma