Jess, the companion planting benefits of basil are more than tradition! Basil has a root exudate called Rosmarinic acid (RA). RA suppresses phytopthora, a common cause of root and crown rots, in the soil of their intertwined root systems. Traditionally, basil is thought to improve both the color and the flavor of tomatoes. The more we learn about root exudates and the amazing communication between plants, microbes, and soil chemistry, the more we will know the science behind what generations of farmers before us knew from observation. RA also has human and livestock health benefits as an antioxidant. It is a benefit to chickens and is used in their feed when we add dried or fresh herbs to their rations or treats. RA is also found in oregano and rosemary, both known for anti-inflammatory qualities.
Idk what I'm doing wrong but my Basil dies before it goes to seed, maybe too hot? My AC isn't working great it was 85 degrees inside... How do we propagate cuttings for outside? Best if it reseeds 🌻 Need help all my grown or store bought herbs dies quick
I went to a conference once where they added rosemary to the water along with peppermint leaves. It was sooo good. I started using different herbs after that. I mixed peppermint, rosemary, and basil in room temperature water and let it steep. It was so good. No sweetners needed.
OH MY GOSH!! I cut back a bunch of Thai Basil this morning and was not sure how to use it in cooking because of the anise flavor. I just made tea from it and it is AMAZING!!!! Thank you for sharing this idea with us!
I had accidentally made a basil syrup (water decoction and honey, and i was just doing a stove simmer for it to make my home smell good, but it turned into much more!) and I highly recommend that too! I used dark opal basil and it gave a hint of cinnamon with it! Basil is great!
Yum! I do this with mint, catnip (great sleepy time tea), sage, roselle (the leaves are lemony), rosehips, etc. I also make blends. I've thrown dandelion, nasturtium, and calendula flowers in them. I ice all my tea. Great use of herbs and edible flowers since there's always more than I can use.
@@grams_garden I would start off weaker..you can always go stronger..or if too strong, you can dilute it. Sage tea is delicious with honey and lemon..and very good for you. We drink it alot during cold season. Iced is great too though :)
@@grams_garden Either that or just dilute it with more water or add other herbs, citrus, honey, spices to it. Orange peel, sage, and clove are a good combo.
For one who was as camera shy as she was on the 1st video you did with her...she is amazing! Can't wait to see more videos with/from her. I thinks she needs a channel of her own perhaps soon! I happen to have Cinnamon Basil growing in my window sill in the kitchen. I need to transplant it outside so I can hopefully grow more of it and try some of that tea. I do love tea and sweet tea of course but I use Stevia which is also grown as a plant so I wonder if having a tea garden like a pizza garden would be an awesome addition to anyone's kitchen or "other" garden(s). I think I am going to create that for myself here in Middle GA! I moved finally Jess and its not he homestead I dreamed of because I can't have farm animals here but were not homeless. I too am in Zone 8A. Makes things a bit easier now with all things you plant now on your farm are pretty much things I can plant and do so when you do so. I am still learning, and your the best teacher I have had! I have quite a few chairs around my property here now which is all garden but this place needs edible things growing, the trees and flowers are pretty but I love to eat what I grow! Love ya, be blessed.
You can try making a blueberry crisp with your cinnamon basil plant. I use less sugar than most recipes. And chop the basil a bit in the berries, and julienne some in the crispy top. Give it a try! (I didn't find a plant this year though. ) :-)
@@patchurch1677 Umm thank you for blessings me with this tip and I also don't like to use lots of sugar. I can see making a blueberry iced tear or lemonade with some in it now as well...the possibilities are endless now that I know how to best use my cinnamon basil!
We grew stevia for the first time this year and never thought to use it to sweeten basil tea...I think we'll try steeping it all together! I've been using our lemon basil in ice water with either strawberries or blueberries and it's delicious!!
Ok…so it’s been a year since this video but I just made some Lime Basil tea with lemon juice. I steeped the leaves and the tea was green, I then poured it over my ice and lemon juice and it turned bubble gum pink! It is delicious and beautifully refreshing! Thanks Jess and Taylor!
I grew holy basil over 20yrs ago and found that years later would find volunteer plants. Oh, how I wish I would have saved some of the seed. I got it, sweet Annie and elephant garlic from my first herbal class. Good memories! Thanks for sharing this. I’ll be on the lookout for the blue and citrus!
I've been making basil tea for a year or two now. Love it! Thai basil tea...sooo delicious. I usually mix it with lemon balm, lavender and tiny bits of sage, oregano & thyme. Just depends on the day and what I feel like. 😊
Hey Taylor! Y’all her bug spray is seriously good. She is at the Newberry Farmers Market on Saturday if you are local. Just bought the cleaner this weekend. Can’t wait to try the tea!
@@deanacanfield200 it's awful I have to stay covered up head to toe. Also found two ticks on my early in the morning watering my garden. Be aware, be safe
I saw this this morning and tried it....it's so yummy!!! New summer drink added to our family. And now I have a reason to go find more types of basil to add to my garden 🎉
I was drawn to growing all sorts of basil varieties this year, and I didn't know what to do with most of the basils other than leave them for our pollinators, so thank you Taylor and Jess! This is so fun and helpful!
I'm the same. My cinnamon basil is growing so fast I can't keep up with it. I was looking at it thus morning and wondering what I was going to do with it. Now I know 😁
I bought a 30 pack of mystery seeds from migardener at the end of last year and got lime basil and licorice basil seeds. They smell wonderful and now I know I can make tea with it.
I ended up dehydrating my lemon basil and regular basil and crushed them up, separately, and put them in a little canning jar so I could spice up my sauces and meals.
Love the new addition to the team! Welcome Taylor, I am not a tea drinker but my daughters are. You however have convinced me! Hope to see more of both you and Will. Great job Jessica Sowards, as per the ‘usual’ amazing videos!
I grew holy basil last year and let it go to seed and I was disappointed that none came up this year. I noticed a "weed" growing on the weed fabric but let it go because life got busy. I noticed the plant had gotten big and had flowers on it so I left it. John Brown if that wasn't a beautiful Holy basil plant right there growing on top of my plain black weed fabric. Needless to say, it gets to stay there in all her glory!
Love this Basil drink. I have harvested Basil at a local biodynamic garden years ago to learn and help the gardener. I loved the plant and its fragrance too. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Jess, I love this!! You are so cute in this video❤ My children and I have enjoyed watching yall all these years. My kiddos have grown up with yours, and we are excited about the cooking videos now 😊
Do you grow stevia? I really want to try growing it because I’m looking for a natural calorie free sweetener. I’ve been using monk fruit but it’s expensive and I don’t care for the aftertaste.
I never grew basil because I didn't know what to do with it. Now I have a reason to grow some basil because I love tea. Hot or cold. It's just so good. Can't wait to try this.
Mary's Nest just did a video on making your own vinegar, which I started last month. I just finished it and It was so incredibly easy. She got her ideas from the RU-vid channel rain country, who is amazing. She has a recipe for mint and banana skin vinegar that taste like a lemon alternative. She uses it when canning for a lemon juice alternative. Amazing how it tastes. Making vinegar was so easy. You should try it with the kids.
Ok, watched this today and made a quart of no lemon and a quart with lemon. Oh my goodness delicious!!! Thank you for sharing and will be my new favorite summertime drink!
My game changer was making basil strawberry infused water and sun tea and learning to drink them all without sweeteners. I will try basil with rose petals next. Also experimenting with orange, grapefruit and lemon peel which I dry myself. I try to have a 0 waste house so any leftover tea gets hidden in a smoothie for dinner - the beauty and blessings of the summer garden. Now onto teas for all the seasons...
You just made my whole DAY. I have 7 kinds of basil growing this year. First year for holy basil, cinnamon and lemon basil and I have used the lemon a couple times when cooking so far but I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the others. You got me on HUFFIN BASIL years ago 😂 so I have mainly grown it for the pure AROMATIC PLEASURE but this is a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. THANK YOU MAAM BOTH OF YOU AND I DO HOPE YOUR DAY IS SUPER BLESSED🙏🙏🙏 KEEP SHINING LIGHTS 💡💡💡💚🦋
Try a blueberry crisp with cinnamon basil in the berries and a bit in the crisp part, julienned. I think I used 6 or 8 good sized leaves in all. Good luck from western Massachusetts USA.
Omg basil tea 🍵 is the balm. I made some basil tea after watching this video I didn't have enough of 1 kind of basil so I mixed sweet basil with purple Opal basil and I didn't have a lemon so I add lemon balm and sweetened it with honey. I have to say it was the best tea I have ever had. I gave some to a friend and she too thought it was the best tea she has ever had. Thank you so much for teaching us how to make basil tea I would love to see more content on things like that and how to preserve your harvest. This is the 1st year I actually started to can and I want to learn as much as I can. I have done some carrots 🥕 and some jams and I love it but I really would love ❤️ to learn how to can complete meals. Thank you so much for all you do may God bless you and your family with a bountiful of crops and love
I make flower tea calendula, marigold, honeysuckle. Add those to hot water let steep for 15-20minutes. Honey to taste. Pour over ice. Then add lemon balm, mint and more flowers to glass to serve. Beautiful!!
I have made basil shaved ice, it's delicious. Basically make a sugar syrup and steep the basil in it, freeze until slushy, scrape with a spoon and let freeze til slushy again, do it several times until you get that shaved ice quality. It's sweet and delicious, I had fun serving it because everyone recognized the flavor but couldn't place it.
I also think adding some strawberries in it would taste amazing. I have had some tasty cocktails with strawberry and fresh basil, mint, or rosemary. All have tasted amazing so I bet adding a few strawberries would be a great twist.
I literally purchased Lemon basil, and Holy basil after watching this for the first time! I was able to go out and harvest my lemon Basil now, and it’s currently steeping! Smells heavenly!
This Basil tea looks amazing! I am going to make some today! We have so much basil growing, this will be a good way some of it up. Also thanks for posting a link to the recipe, sometimes I forget to take notes as I am watching. 😀
Lemon Basil tea is probably my favorite. I started steeping it for my boys and me last year so I am trying to grow a lot more. I am also dehydrating some to have over the winter
After this video, my life was truly changed 😁 I went right out and made me some basil tea straight away! It's totally delicious and of course I had to use my beautiful tea cup, who doesn't love a tea party right?😋☕️ Thank you so much! Bon appetite 🌿
After this video I made some Thai Basil iced tea and lemon juice turned it PINK! Like bubble gum pink! So fun! And highly recommend Thai Basil tea. It was so good.
Thanks for sharing. Basil tea, who knew! I am growing Blue Spice and Lemon Basil. I am definitely trying this. My wheels are spinning, on what great flavor combos I could do. Lemon basil and a smidge of lemon thyme? Super cool. Thanks yall! God bless ya for helping us all to learn new things.
I recently use Jess’ suggestion of strawberry basil water. I let it steep too long and it was really potent. Decided to make simple syrup with it. 3/4 c sugar to 2c infused water. Did the same with peaches/basil. Wow. I can dollop in tea, water, mix with rum or vodka. Geezalou!
I'm excited to see that you can do more with basil then making pesto and other yummy dishes!!! I always cover the jar with a lid to keep the natural oils from escaping into the air,, when I am making a tea
Thank you Taylor and Jess for showing us how to make basil teas. I always waste so much of it because I don’t k ow what to do with it. You can only dry so much. I make lemon balm teas and drink it warm.
