Saving with Basil

Every year, my husband and I grow basil to harvest throughout the summer and fall. My husband actually does most of the work since he has the green thumb and makes sure they survive the summers heat. Basil plants thrive in cool weather so we don't have much production during the summer unless the weather's cool or until early fall when it's cooled off a bit. In the past we would purchase fresh basil from our supermarket which was neatly displayed in one of those pricey little plastic cases. Now we can go out our front door, pick our basil plants clean and come inside to make pesto, one of my favorite italian sauces. Pesto does require additional ingredients to make, but has a better taste than the store version, and sometimes ends up costing less. Any leftover basil that was picked and not used for our batch of pesto goes on the wire rack for drying. After the basil leaves are completely dry, we label a plastic bag and store the basil in the cabinet for future use in any recipes. We haven't purchased basil at the grocery store in more than two years and we enjoy our gourmet homemade pesto.