Giving some indication as to why Italian food is supposed to be so good for you, Basil – also known as Sweet Basil and St Joseph’s Wort – Ocimum basilicum, is a great tonic herb, raising the spirits and helping to alleviate exhaustion. So now you have an excuse, if one were needed, for piling on the pesto sauce (which also contains olive oil and pine nuts, both useful additions to a healthy diet). It is related to Holy Basil but not to Wild Basil or Basil Thyme.
Basil is well known as a herb used particularly with tomatoes, and also makes a good addition to the salad bowl. It’s a tender perennial; in areas where frosts occur, it is usually grown as an annual. If you are growing tomatoes, it also makes a good companion plant, helping to deter many pests, and is also said to improve the plant’s vigor and the flavor of the tomatoes themselves. If you are growing in containers, a couple of basil plants in each pot will be fine, and they both like the same conditions so keeping an eye on the basil will let you know early on if the tomatoes are needing to be watered.
Medicinally, Basil is used to treat colds and flu, gastroenteritis and indigestion, insomnia, migraine and nausea. Using copious quantities in cooking is one way to use it – as for example, in salad or in the form of pesto. Alternatively, you can make a standard infusion, using 3-4 teaspoonfuls of chopped fresh herb or 1-2 teaspoonfuls of dried to a cup of boiling water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, then strain and use. It can be sweetened with honey if preferred, and can be sipped slowly over the course of an hour or so.
As with all other herbs used in large quantities, and in particular for herbal remedies, it’s important that basil is grown organically, so as to avoid accidentally ingesting large quantities of toxic chemicals. For more information about growing basil organically, visit the Gardenzone.
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November 3rd, 2008 at 14:10
[...] seems to be some confusion between this herb and Thai Basil, which is a variety of Sweet Basil, Ocimum basilicum, and is used in cooking. The difference, according to Wikipedia, is that Thai [...]