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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Floyd VA
Posts: 771
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I was so busy canning tomatoes this summer that I negligently let my sweet basil go to flower. I cut off all the flower stalks in hopes that there will be enough time for another crop of leaves before the first frost, but now what to do with all of these flower stalks. Can I dry the little flower leaves (not the flowers), that is, will they have the same taste and intensity as an herb as the green leaves?
TomNJ/VA |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Posts: 4,832
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To me they do. I have used fresh basil flowers, candied, on savory and sweet dishes.
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,521
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Ditto. Also used the flowers in making jellies and dry and grind into a powder. Sometimes find the little leaves around the flowers and the flowers more intense than the bigger ones, but depends upon the variety.
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#4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 637
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On Thai basil I have used the flowers to make tomato sauces. Also dried the flowers, stalks and leaves together as they are much more delicate than sweet basil and take half the time.
zeroma |
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: 6a
Posts: 322
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You can use the flowers fresh or dried. It's common in South East Asian dishes.
Fresh is preferred over dried though. |
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Oregon
Posts: 53
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After collecting basil seeds I save those husks(?) and use them in tea.
__________________
There is no better soil analyst than the lowly earthworm. -- Albert Howard |
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#7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Floyd VA
Posts: 771
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Thank you all! My flower stalks are drying and I'll grind them up soon.
TomNJ/VA |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Sterling Heights, MI Zone 6a/5b
Posts: 1,302
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I'm growing besides regular basil, African Blue basil and it seem to flower a lot. It is a hybrid, so you can keep flowers on it without worry of the plant dying. It's more a shrub really. I plan to overwinter it in a south window or under lights. It may be a good choice for flower harvest?
I'm growing a number of unusual herbs this year. Mexican, Mexican bush, and Cuban oregano. All are shrubs and not true oregano's. Cuban is a variegated succulent. |
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