Grow · Patio pots × 6
Genovese basil
Planted 2026-04-20 · harvested 2026-10-10
Yield: ≈ 1.5 kg of leaves over six pots — pinched weekly to keep flowering off.
Two seedlings per terracotta pot, south-facing, watered at the base. Largest leaves in late May–July; the August heat tends to brown the edges so the harvest stops by September if the summer is dry.
Basil is the one herb where the pot matters as much as the soil. Terracotta breathes; black plastic cooks the roots; the harvest changes accordingly.
Used in · 3
- Margherita PizzaTomato, mozzarella, basil — three colours of the flag on a 90-second flatbread.
- Pesto alla GenoveseGreen sauce, mortar and pestle, peak basil — a fifteen-minute counterweight to the six-hour ragù.
- Ratatouille NiçoiseProvençal summer vegetables — eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomato — each cooked separately, folded together, eaten the next day.