Basil plants for sale

Posted on Category:Local

Genovese basil, Thai basil, Lemon & Lime basil!? MEG’s has all kinds of basil plants for sale. See the colors of the rainbow only at MEG’s Edible Landscapes!

Basil plants for sale
Basil plants for sale

Contents

What is basil?

Basil is a popular kitchen herb used in a variety of dishes from pastas to salads and even drinks. There are dozens upon dozens of basil varieties each with their own distinct flavor and visual appeal. Genovese basil is one of the most popular Italian-style sweet basils found in many pasta dishes. There are even exotic varieties of basil like “lemon” and “lime” basils.

How MEG grows basil

MEG grows basil plants exclusively in fabric grow bags for both indoor and outdoor growing. Fabric bags are a perfect container for a basil plant to thrive, and we know that you’ll love it when you experience this growing method. Fabric grow bags create the best growing environment for the basil’s root system. Other containers have problems with it root rot, root-bound issues, and drainage issues. These are non-issues with fabric grow bags. Each of our basil plants contains a custom soil mix and fertilizer. The only requirements needed for successful growing are a sunny spot and consistent watering. Other than that, you just have to go out and harvest leaves as needed. No refrigerator required!

Basil Varieties

Last year MEG sold container basil (which is a Genovese- style variety bred to thrive in containers), purple opal basil, and cinnamon basil. The container basil has a very similar taste to Genovese. Purple opal basil has a mild flavor with bright purple leaves. Cinnamon basil (MEG’s favorite currently!) has a pleasantly spicy flavor. All three basils have strong fragrances that are pleasing to the senses. These basil varieties are also vigorous growers and can be grown outside or inside.

New basil plants for sale in 2022

We’re adding some new varieties to the mix for 2022. Lemon basil, lime basil, and large leaf Italian basil are the three that we’re adding to the mix. Lemon and lime basil are supposed to have distinctively citrusy flavors. We’ll let you know after we grow them out this summer. It’s just a little bit exciting! The large leaf Italian basil is the new one for Meg, and this one’s exciting too because the leaves are supposed to be 3 to 4 times larger than the normal Genovese basil. You can find our new basil plants for sale here.

Favorite recipes

Growing out basil would probably be pointless unless we had favorite recipes to accompany them. Here are some of our favorites:

  • Chicken parmesan. Chicken Parmesan is always a hit at the Italian restaurant on the street corner. But, providing ingredients from our own garden is always going to trump the restaurants. There’s just something liberating about growing your own food that goes directly to the dinner plate.
  • Tomato basil chicken. Getting hungry yet? Late in summer when the tomatoes are ripening up is the best time to try this recipe. Also, if you overwintered garlic you can add that to the next to.
  • Margherita pizza. Here’s an easy classic pizza with only a few basic ingredients. Fresh basil being one of them along with those summer-grown tomatoes.
  • Pesto. If you love pesto, try this recipe. It’s a super easy recipe. Can be used with pasta, sandwiches and just about anything else you can use imagination for.

What’s your favorite basil recipe? Send us an email and let us know, or give us a shout out on social media.

Watering basil

Watering basil is pretty easy. Basil doesn’t require a lot of water during the summer mostly because it’s concentrating on vegetative growth not fruit like tomatoes, peppers, and melons. The plant will most likely need to be watered every other day even when the temperatures get warm, but it’s best to keep an eye on the plant daily. Avoid soaking the grow bag with water every day, because basil prefers to have its surrounding soil dry out between waterings. We have found that over-watering basil (even with fabric grow bags) will cause other issues like slugs to try to join the party. Use water that hasn’t been run through the water softener for best results. See MEG’s Edible Knowledge Base for more information on water.

Sun requirements

Basil is a summer herb. It needs lots of directly light in order to grow best. It will grow indoors too, but be sure there is a strong light source preferably from the south-facing window. Place the plants right up against the window and the seal, because the light intensity drops off significantly even 6 inches away from the window. Basil will tell you when it doesn’t have enough sunlight, and you can see that by the growth pattern. It tends to grow tall and thin as opposed to a compact bushy growth pattern. Supplemental grow lights may be required if you don’t have a strong south facing window with enough light.

Indoors or outdoors?

This question comes down to what are your intentions. If you’d like to grow a lot of basil, outdoors would be the best course during the summer months when it’s warm. Keep in mind, the basil needs to be above 50° outside otherwise it will suffer. Basil can’t tolerate frost also. Grow basil during the colder months and over winter indoors as a kitchen herb. As mentioned previously, south facing windows are the best for this purpose. Nothing beats picking your own fresh basil in the month of January in Minnesota especially when there’s a foot of snow on the ground.

Final thoughts

Growing basil is a simple process, and is made even easier with MEG’s grow bags. We take all the guesswork out of growing basil by removing many of the common hurdles and variables involved with growing food. MEG will continue to add more varieties to the mix giving you even more choices to discover your favorite basil plants for sale. Give it a try today. We know you’ll love the results.