Basil 情結 (1)

春天裏從花圃買來各種的Basil小苗苗。種在後院小動物常常出沒的地方。不用圍欄，不用難看的鐵絲網。除了我，沒有其他動物對它們感興趣了。每年那片菜地+花園都會回報它的主人很多。今年用割下來的碎草當 mulch 拔草的力氣都省了。

Harvest your crop after the flower buds first appear and before they're fully open . One day before your picking, spray some water on the plants to wash most of the dust and dirt. In the early morning after the dew has dried, cut your basil. Leaving four inches of stem in the ground . . . to grow and give you fresh leaves later in the season.

Beside to add them into your salad freshly, you can dry it up to serve year around.

To dry the herb, gently gather up small bunches (basil bruises easily), tie the stems with string, and hang them upside down in a dark, well-ventilated place with a temperature that ranges between 70 and 95°F. Then, when the leaves crumble easily, strip them from the stalks and pack them whole into containers.

To create delicious herbal liquid, you can mix cider vinegar with the dried basil. Bruise the leaves and stems of about 1/2 pound of fresh basil (use a rolling pin for the job) and place them in the bottom of a plastic pail with a tight-fitting lid (the kind that bulk peanut butter comes in). Pour a gallon of vinegar on top, put on the lid, and let the mixture steep for at least two weeks.