Basil 情结 (1)

春天里从花圃买来各种的Basil小苗苗。种在后院小动物常常出没的地方。不用围栏，不用难看的铁丝网。除了我，没有其他动物对它们感兴趣了。每年那片菜地+花园都会回报它的主人很多。今年用割下来的碎草当 mulch 拔草的力气都省了。

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.