Basil, My Own Personal Catnip

I am in love with Basil.

No, not some snooty Englishman. Who needs that when I have HHBL.

No I mean Basil as in the herb. You know, the stuff that they make pesto out of. You have had pesto haven’t you? Tell me that you have because if you haven’t then you must.

Divine, divine, divine.

But I digress.

I love basil. I love it so much that I keep buying more basil plants. I mean Look Leap and I have added a small patch of basil to the community garden plot. But is that enough for me?

Oh no it isn’t. Because to that I have added 5 more plants here at Chez Knit.

Oh Lordy don’t those look lovely. Luscious, simply luscious. If that is an adjective that can be applied to basil. And I say it is so HA!

I can’t get enough of this stuff. The minute there were any basil plants available at the local nursery I was buying them.

This poor plant looks sort of sad doesn’t it. All leafless and spindly. It isn’t really spindly it is just that I have been picking leaves off of it at an alarming rate and it is struggling to keep up with the demand.

Sort of like Apple with the new iphone.

Or not

But during the summer if I make pizza….

And I make pizza at least once a week….

I have to put basil on it. HHBL likes it that way and I try ALWAYS to do things that he likes……..

Um yeah.

So, back to the basil.

                                             Ooooooooo be still my basil beating heart.

Now, anyone who has ever grown basil will tell you that there is competition in the garden for it. The deer like it. The bunnies like it. The groundhogs like it.

The dog does not like it. He likes to pee on it but he doesn’t like it.

Maybe that’s why he pees on it. That is also why I always wash the basil before using it.

Always.

I have found that the biggest competition for my basil are the slugs. Man I hate those things. There is something so squishily satisfying about stomping down on one of them with my garden clogs.

Squelch!


I put down liberal applications of this lovely slugicide that seems to keep them at bay.

And before you say it I have tried the old beer in a “slug trap” trick and it wasn’t very effective. I seem to have more than my fair share of teetotaling slugs. And it always seemed a waste of a good beer. I am not wanting to pour any portion of my Great Lakes Dortmunder into a container for the slugs.

And every once in a while I just go out and pick a basil leaf. Just to sniff it.

My own personal catnip.