Basil

~:~:~ Introduction ~:~:~ Basil is one of mine and Tim’s favourite herbs. Tim is really fussy with food and basil allows me to add flavour to his otherwise quite bland diet. Basil is also incredibly versatile and although most people would associate it with Mediterranean cuisine Basil is ... Read review

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1-5 of 11 reviews of Basil Show all reviews

Basil - the King of Herbs

Advantages: versatile, tasty and easy to grow.
Disadvantages: None - unless you don't like it.

...Introduction ~:~:~

Basil is one of mine and Tim’s favourite herbs. Tim is really fussy with food and basil allows me to add flavour to his otherwise quite bland diet. Basil is also incredibly versatile and although most people would associate it with Mediterranean cuisine Basil is also used in many Asian cultures such as Thai, Chinese and Indian in fact from reading the internet a bit for research it would seem that in the US and Australia ...
...
~:~:~ Types of Basil ~:~:~

The most common type of Basil used in the UK is Sweet Basil or Ocimum Basilicum to give it its full botanical name.

This is just one of many types of Basil including:

Lemon basil
African blue basil
Spice/Cinnamon Basil
Licorice/Anise Basil and
Thai Sacred Basil

There are loads more but I don’t want to bore you by going on all ... more

donnabroom 04.06.2007 (04.06.2007)
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Basil

Ease of Care

Appearance

Value for Money

Hey Presto its pesto....and lots more

Advantages: so easy to grow indoors
Disadvantages: none

Basil is an aromatic annual that reaches about two feet tall, looks like its relatives, the mint family, only with more branches and which blossoms white or purple in summer. It will grow easily from seed in well drained and composted soil and should be planted after the frosts have been. Basil's big advantage especially to the new herbal gardener is that it will grow well in a pot on the kitchen window, given light and water and even the most absent ...
...uses. Most people know Basil as the main ingredient in Pesto, and its pungent aroma and vivid colour will be familiar to most kitchen friendly people, but Basil has a very interesting history as well. Its current popularity is surprising considering the reputation it has had through the years. Greeks and Romans regarded the herb as a symbol of hostility and insanity and they believed that to grow truly fragrant Basil plants one had to swear and ...

steerpyke 29.01.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Basil

Day of the Basilfids

Advantages: Taste, versatile, easy to grow
Disadvantages: Smell, TOO easy to grow

...has been taken over by basil plants. I don’t just mean a couple; this is a true infestation. They seem to grow indefinitely and, despite my completely un-green-fingered tendering, they refuse to die. This is war and in order to win the war, you must know your enemy. KNOW YOUR ENEMY Basil comes from a group of plants with a rather rude name (labiatae), which includes sage, rosemary, thyme, mint and lavender. It originates from India (so who brought ...
...The fragrance (aka stench) of basil is used in perfumery (not the ones I wear I hasten to add; I don’t want to smell like a pesto dish) and aromatherapy. It is supposed to be a calmant and to help with stress and insomnia (although it doesn’t seem to do the trick for me; basil infested kitchens are not relaxing). Now I can get into the ‘mind’ of my enemy and I must now investigate growing techniques. Maybe using reverse engineering I can defeat these ...

Ophelia 18.02.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Basil

Basil in the garden

Advantages: lots of uses in cookery
Disadvantages: you may not like the taste

Basil is widely grown in Britain and has many uses in cookery and in herbal remedies. This is a half hardy plant but in warmer countries it is a perennial. The seeds can be sown under glass in late March or early April. Then the little plants can be moved to the garden in early June. You can sow the seeds straight into your gareden in May if you prefer, but I always like to get plants off to a good start in the greenhouse. The plants have funny shaped ...
...lots of different varieties of basil you can grow. African Blue has the purplelish flowers and can be used in rice dishes or in stews. Sweet Basil is proberbly the most common one seen in gardens and has bright green leaves which are very aromatic,, this is very nice dried or chopped and used on pizza's or in stews. Lemon Basil, has light green leaves and smells of lemons, this is nice to put in salads. Or is very tasty with fish. Thai Basil has ...

Aquarian 19.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Basil

The Sweetest Thing....

Advantages: Wonderful smell, taste and goes perfectly with tomatoes for a divine salad sensation!
Disadvantages: It's an annual that likes a but of sun. And I live in The Dark North!!!

...Tomatoes are even greater with basil than without. Take this evening for example. My pregnant taste buds wanted cheese. Very badly. So I bought three different types, and eventually settled on a fat, squat, buffalo mozzarella. Some organic cherry tomatoes from our veg box scheme bag of goodies, bit of fresh ground black pepper and some balsamic dressing. Hey presto, a lovely bit of salad for a friday evening. But I'm telling you it was made all the ...
...addition of 5 fat juicy basil leaves, ripped to tiny shreds and sprinkled over the top. Sensational! Basil is a wonderfully versatile herb, so very easy to grow on your windowsill, or even outside if you live in the sunny south. I have to admit to never acheiving success with basil outside, as it tends to either grow stunted and pale from lack of sun, or sprout away happily only to be devoured by hungry greenfly. So I keep mine on the kitchen windowsill, ...

phoenixgreen 26.05.2007 (25.05.2007) · Read full review
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Review of Basil

Basil's a Beggar...

Advantages: Taste
Disadvantages: Hard to grow

...To grow that is. Basil is definately an essential for the herbologist's kitchen. When it decides it wants to grow, it can grow indoors in a pot like wildfire. A well-established basil plant will go from strength-to-strength and grow all year round indoors, provided you pull off a few leaves on a regular basis to stimulate growth. When basil chooses not to grow, it can turn from a springy fresh, fragrant leafy bush into a droopy withering weedy ...
...two basil plants in the house for over a year, one I grew from seed, the other nursed back to life from a bargain sale price almost dead plant from Tesco's, that just grew and grew, I really was surprised to discover just what a beggar basil can really be! The original plants died after an extended break away, when I entrusted their well-being to a neighbour without green fingers. 'No problem' I thought, as I intended to replace them. I bought another ...

witchwaysup 13.03.2001 (08.12.2004) · Read full review
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Review of Basil

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ROSEMARY & BASIL ARE SCRUBBERS

Advantages: Aromatic smell, high performance from an own brand
Disadvantages: Slightly drying on the skin

My brand of choice for washing up liquid is actually Persil Aloe Vera. However, for some strange reason my local Sainsbury seem to have stopped stocking it and as a result, choices are limited. It appears to be Fairy or a Sainsbury own brand version. I refuse to pay over £1 for a 500ml bottle of Persil from the nearest corner shop, so opted for Sainsbury?s Perform + Protect Rosemary & Basil Washing Up Liquid. In Sainsbury, premium brands like Persil or Fairy washing up liquid, retail at 88p for 500ml. The Rosemary & Basil own brand version sells at 79p so there?s not a huge difference in price. Given that I was paying a near to premium price for this, I did have high expectations. The washing up liquid comes in a clear container, so you can see the liquid through the bottle. It?s an intense turquoise sea blue colour (quite ...

fantasybeliever 22.06.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sainsbury's Perform & Protect Rosemary & Basil Washing Up Liquid

Violet and Basil? Yum!

Advantages: A really nice smell, and it does the job! Not too expensive either.
Disadvantages: Bubbles dont last as long as leading brands.

I know you buy washing up liquid to get your dishes clean, but using the same brands can get boring! Why not occassionally try a new fragrance, I tried this Violet & Basil antibacterial action washing up liquid from Tesco, and I really liked the smell! I am very satisfied with the product, it may not be as strong as the leading brand that I usually rely on, so I will probably replace it quicker, but it washes up well, the bubbles might go but my plates come up to my usual standard of fussyness! It is a lovely violet colour, and has no problems with blocking in the cap, in fact it seems to have a new type of almost clear flip lid that works very well.I think that the antibacterial properties mean that you can use it to wipe things over with dishcloth or sponge, and it has not been tested on animals. My skin can be sensitive but so ...

little_red_hen 24.10.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Tesco Washing Up Liquid

Violet & Basil ? Who are they?

Advantages: Very good quality and value for money.
Disadvantages: Perfume could be a little too ' heady'.

When it comes to buying washing up liquid it comes down to four main questions as far as I am concerned:- 1. Do I buy the leading brand..which I guess to be named after a winged mythical character ( Oh no, dont tell me there are no such things as fairies?). 2. Do I buy a cheap economy brand? 3. Do I buy a middle of the road brand? or finally~ 4. Do I go for quirky and go for the packaging, colour fragrance and name??? Yes, you've guessed it the last one wins most of the time. Sad I know but it brings a bit of variety into these shopping chores. With Tesco's Violet & Basil washing up liquid it was the name and colour that I was first drawn to. It is a vivid purple in colour. As the name suggests it is fragranced with the flower violet and the herb basil. Both of them original and unusual fragrance choices ...

tutu422 09.05.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Tesco Washing Up Liquid

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