Basil!

 

Anyone who grows eatables or cooks with fresh stuff knows what Basil is.  If you know, you know. If you don't know... man you have some GOOD waiting for you.

I can't count how many versions of Basil there are.  I've read there are hundreds. leaning towards thousands. At least one for most every earthly culture able to grow stuff.  Some cultures have many versions, dozens at least. This being 'Murica, I think we have them *all* because we are greedy like that.  I grow three just for us.

This makes sense as Basil is in the mint family.  It grows almost everywhere, propagates easily, and crossbreeds better than a swingers club.

What we see here is lettuce leaf Basil, from Baker Seeds.  It germinates like a champ, grows fast, has large full leaves, and tastes superb.

Not an 'in your face' Basil like Genovese or Thai, but a gentle and subtle Sweet basil.  It's best raw, but cooks up well too.  We prefer it in salads or used as wraps, but it's become the backbone of this years Basil blend (dried).

As for Baker seeds, they are the best I have ever used. I've tried numerous other regular and rare seed sellers, and Baker has sent me the most dependable and viable seeds of them all.  With minimal proper care, the seeds sprout and grow.  I've had other places send me expensive and fancy rare seeds that simply would not germinate no matter what.  Not so with Baker.

If you are a gardener who likes to know what is available, and mull over the choices on long Winter evenings, consider buying their big catalog.  It's a full size softcover book, 3/4" thick, at 525 pages. The one I bought cost $10, preordered, and has a HUGE amount of information.  It's called 'The Whole Seed Catalog'.