Volunteer basil covers my garden every year.
Eileen

Anne Lurie wrote:

Heidi,

Unfortunately, I'm the wrong member of the family to ask about basil tasting
bitter, as my hubby's the cook. BTW, it was Genovese basil, as I recall,
rather than a "specialty" basil.

However, your question triggered something in my mind [not quite enough for
a real answer, alas........]? Do you pick the flowers off the basil? If
so, did you do that during the summer, but stopped doing it this time of
year?

I think I read that lettuce gets bitter after it "bolts" (stalk grows more
than leaves do because plant is trying to set seed?), and I wonder if the
same might apply to basil. Or perhaps the lower temperatures have something
to do with it?

On a new note, has anyone here ever tried simply letting basil go to seed?
(I assume it would eventually produce seed.) One year, I had a packet of
basil seeds that I never got around to starting indoors. I noticed that the
packet directions indicated that it could be sowed directly in the garden.
Although I was skeptical, I figured I had nothing to lose, so I tried it.
To my surprise, the directly-sowed basil not only germinated, it eventually
overtook the plants I had put in as seedlings!

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

"Heidi" wrote in message
. com...
I'm curious as to the taste of your basil. I picked off some leaves on
my basil plant 2 weeks ago and the leaves tasted exceptionally bitter.
My plant is a sweet basil, the kind normally used for pesto. Has anyone
had the same experience? What can make basil extra bitter? I had
assumed it was because I harvested the leaves so late in the season.

TIA!
Heidi