cut and dry basil?

[chickenjim]

Hello all

I've got some basil in the ground that is past its prime. What do you think about cutting and drying the plants? The seeds are not ready to collect. If I cut and dry the plants will it effect the seeds? Any other ideas?

thanks and happy fall growing

Jim

[americangardener]

Hi Jim..

Welcome to HG...

I'm not a herb grower.. so i'll leave it up to the experts on herbs to tell ya what best to do.

I just got one comment about drying plants.. if you're planning to do em indoors. Ya might want to worry about bringing insects into the house. If ya got small seeds on basil.. which i don't even know what that would look like.. ya might try spraying the plants with a mild dishsoap solution to kill em off first before ya hang your plants. If ya are gonna do em outside.. well just forget what i just said. Freeze the seeds to kill any insect eggs ya might have mixed in with the seeds when you're done.

DAve

[canadamike]

If I was you, instead of drying basil at that stage, I would mix it in the blender with some good olive or grapeseed oil, I prefer grapeseed for herbs, it does not become hard in the fridge. Then you will have fresh basil for a long long time. You could also freeze some of it instead of keeping it all in the fridge.

[plantsnobin]

I agree with Mike. Dried basil tends to lose flavor, and generally anything you want to dry should be picked at the peak of perfection, not on the downhill slide.