The Easiest Way To Keep Fresh Basil On Hand All Year

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From caprese salad to pesto, basil is a staple of Mediterranean cuisine for a reason. Both its aroma and flavor have the power to define a dish, especially if you use it fresh. This chef-approved herb belongs in every beginner's garden, as it's fairly easy to grow. Its growing season spans from late spring to early fall, generally from May until October. The other half of the year, though, many of us reach for subpar dried basil that doesn't have the same effect, or get fresh basil bunches at the grocery store, which often come wrapped in plastic and wilt within a few days. Thankfully, there's a simple way to have fresh basil on hand all year round: Grow it indoors.

To grow indoors, basil needs the appropriate amount of light, warmth, and water. It likes to be in full sun and needs around eight hours of sunlight to thrive, so the best indoor place for it is usually a south-facing window in a warm room with a stable temperature, preferably around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. It likes moist soil, so when you see the top layer of the soil dry out, that's your cue to water. Make sure you're growing the basil in a pot with holes on the bottom, so the excess water can drain out.

In climates that experience winter, basil is an annual herb — it only grows for one season and needs to be replanted again next spring. That's because this herb doesn't tolerate frost and starts to die out at lower temperatures. The windowsill in your kitchen might provide enough light and warmth for the plant to grow in the warmer months, but during the colder half of the year, basil is going to need the support of a grow light in order to keep producing its delicious green leaves that we love to sprinkle on our homemade margherita pizza.

If you're dreaming of an indoor herb garden that you can harvest past October, grow lights are a must. A simple kitchen lamp is not enough for the summer-loving basil to survive the winter. Grow lights provide the right amount of light and warmth to the plant so it can continue its photosynthesis process, essentially allowing you to control the growing conditions. Some lights can even be set on a timer, so you just set it and forget it. The GooingTop LED Grow Light, for example, is marked as Amazon's Choice and has over 22 thousand customer reviews for under $30.