Gardening- The Season for Warm Weather Herbs is Over

The air has been chilling a bit, and I have been taking out my warm weather herbs. We have a small garden, and in order to make room for cold weather veggies like KALE (my favorite)the basil has to go. In this picture, you can see me holding one of my Basil plants! It was HUGE with a woody stem, almost like a bush. To make my herbs grow larger I plant them in the ground, use compost and prune regularly. This one had just offered a grocery bag FULL of leaves to a friend of ours.

TIPS FOR GROWING MONSTER HERBS: 
1. Plant in the ground (you don't have to, but they will get bigger) 
2. Prune/harvest regularly. The proper way to prune is cut from the top! Most people will harvest leaves from the bottom of the plant, taking the oldest leaves. Older leaves don't taste as good, and won't help the plant to spread. If you prune from the top, and snip a cluster that has sprung up between 2 leaves, it will signal the plant to produce more. 
3. Never harvest more than 1/3 of the plant at a time. 
4. Try not to cut into the woody part of the plant. 
5. Don't let them bloom! When a plant is allowed to bloom, it signals that its work is done, and it will stop producing. Pinch blooms off as much as possible. With basil, I do allow it to bloom towards the end of the season, because it is a favorite of honey bees!