This actually started because my mother-in-law bought me two concertina sketchbooks, they’re the ones that open up like an accordian into one long folded piece, absolutely beautiful and intimidating as hell. I’ve seen instagram posts of tastefully curated themed concertinas (because of course they must be themed otherwise you have defied their purpose, shame on you) and sat in awe of the possibilities. Which if you paint, draw or doodle you know this is a death sentence for your creativity, leaving many a sketchbook sitting unused because of that intimidating blank first page.

I declared that this would not be so for these two, the massive one got put to one side and hidden under the river cottage herb book while I decided to tackle the small, cute one. Now I love my herb garden but i’m definitely one of those people who creates a plot and then forgets to actually use them in anything while my shop bought dried herbs religiously go into every meal. So I decided to make a Botanical Concoctions book and learn to use my herbs in new and interesting ways.

To start meet Basil, just one of those must have herbs it’s got so many uses, but unless you’ve got a greenhouse or a poly tunnel your going to be relegated to windowsill growing. Not that it’s a bad thing, I quite like having it in the kitchen so I remember to use it. So it’s better to keep things in sight if your going to actually have a chance of it becoming more than just leafy window dressing.

So I’ve decided to start with a cocktail, now I’m quite boring when it comes to my drinks (tea, g&t, prosecco and then I’m about done) yet I still harbour dreams of creating my own tea garden, wafting round it in a white dress and hat, making my own herbal concoctions like a studio ghibli witch. To step towards this fantasy meet the Gin Basil Smash (doesn’t it sound wondrous) created in the summer of 2008 by Jörg Meyer at Le Lion • Bar de Paris, Hamburg, Germany and originally named Gin Pesto. Jörg blogged about his new creation on the 10th of July 2008 and from there the rest is history.

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How to grow your own Basil

But I’m getting ahead of myself, “woah” I hear you cry “I don’t even have any basil yet and don’t even know where to start!” So please bare with me my dear reader and lets set you up with some tasty window basil.

I’ve gone for a slightly frankenstein hydroponic¹ setup, which sounds intimidating but is actually really easy and a bit more reliable than when I’ve grown them the more traditional pot and compost way. So let’s grab your ingredients and dramatically sweep aside whatever’s on your kitchen table. I’ve included links and rough prices so you’ve got an idea of how much this will cost.

[None of this is sponsored so I’ve just tried to find you the best prices online that are eco friendly but please check your local independent garden centre first]

The priciest thing is the feed but you only need 100g in every litre of water to make the mix. It comes in 2 parts A and B, I’ve just made some empty tonic water bottles of each and stashed them under the sink. You dilute them again (5-10ml of A&B) in a litre of water. So 1kg makes 2000 litres of feed, which is pretty good value for money when you think about it.

The pots are Elho which use recycled plastic but do check your local plant nursery for cheaper options. Also this can be done a lot smaller and more cost effective, this is just my set up.

This works best in summer as you don’t need to add any external heat to start the seeds a sunny windowsill should do the trick. Whenever the tray runs dry just top up with the nutrient feed, now sit back and watch your little herbs grow.

The great thing with this setup is you don’t have to transplant your seeds or any of that malarkey, just turn the planter every once in a while so they don’t all grow towards the window and enjoy your abundance of basil.

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How to harvest for bushier basil

If you want the bushiest basil you ever did see you’ve got to know how to harvest it. First off you want to wait until your basil has at least 2 sets of true leaves. When it first starts growing the first 2 leaves that appear are seed leaves they look more like cartoon leaves and these contain a little packed lunch of nutrients for your baby plant. Leaves 3 and 4 will be true leaves, as will all those that come after and will look more recognisable as basil.

Once your Basil is established (looks healthy and has 6 or more leaves) you can start to use some of it and the best way is to pinch out the growing tip with your fingers. You do this by taking the top leaves, making sure to stop above 2 true leaves, pinch and twist, after this the plant realises it needs a new growing tip and hey two is better than one so it starts this right above those two leaves you left on the plant. Keep doing this and you’ll have instagram worthy basil that just keeps on giving.

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Gin Basil Smash – Cocktail

In my household we forget to use basil so much we’ve taken to shouting out “BASIL” before serving every meal like a weird Fawlty towers skit³. So what better way to use some than in a cocktail you can take outside and complain about the humidity like any true Brit in summer.

If you don’t want to buy sugar syrup its really easy to make literally just sugar and water on the hob, it also lasts for ages in the fridge. To turn this into a mocktail just substitute the gin for your favourite 0% non alcoholic gin (Tanqueray do a wonderful one).

Now I really loved this drink, possibly just down to the pride of having used a herb I’d grown from a baby and made into something special and boozy, but I digress. It has a nice lemon herby punch, which is great for sitting in the garden with and feeling rightfully smug. Only change I’d make for next time is I’d fill the glass with crushed ice as it only makes about a martini glasses worth of cocktail and the ice helps dilute some of that heady feeling after your first sip.

If you decide to make this please let me know what you thought in the comments and I hope this gives you some more ideas of what to do with all that Basil.

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Footnotes

1. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions dissolved in water. Essentially, it’s a way to provide plants with the necessary nutrients they would typically get from soil, directly to their roots via a water-based solution. ↩︎
2. In my pictures I’ve used 3 little seed starters and a generous sprinkle of basil seeds. ↩︎
3. If your too young to get this Fawlty towers is a british sitcom from the 70’s with John Cleese, just youtube the first episode children! ↩︎

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Thank you so much for reading my blog, please let me know what other herbs you’d like to see me make a drink out of.