Show Notes
In this episode, we discuss the essentials of basil cultivation, highlighting the basil basics for home gardens. We cover basil soil preparation, planting, timing, and a few of the various flavorful basil varieties such as Sweet, Thai, and cinnamon basil. We include basil care tips such as watering, fertilization, and pest management. Special guest Rose Loveall-Sale from Morningsun Herb Farm shares her knowledge about basil’s cultural significance and culinary uses, as well as sharing her vast knowledge of even more basil varieties. Her audio was taken from her how-to basil video on YouTube , because this week she was busy getting ready for Morningsun Herb Farm’s annual open house day, on Saturday, May 2, an event that features speakers, vendors, crafts, demonstrations, and informational booths (including the Solano County Master Gardeners) at the nursery outside Vacaville, in the San Francisco Bay Area. More links and pictures about basil in today’s podcast transcript! ALL ABOUT BASIL - THE PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Farmer Fred: [0:00] If there’s one herb that practically begs to be grown at home, it has to be basil. The good news? It’s not fussy at all. It just wants what most of us really want. Warm weather, plenty of sunshine, and a good drink of water every now and then. Basil is happiest in fertile, well-drained soil that has lots of organic matter. Most garden soils, though, work just fine. But before you plant anything, it’s always worthwhile doing a quick soil test so you know exactly what you’re working with. Farmer Fred: [0:30] If the soil needs a nutrient boost, work your fertilizer into the top six inches. If you’re going the compost route, spread no more than one inch of well-composted material per 100 square feet. A little goes a long way here. The golden rule with basil is wait until after the last frost before planting. Cold soil is the enemy. If you’re starting from seed, basil germinates best when soil temps are between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and you can expect the little sprouts to pop up in about 10 to 14 days. If you’re starting with transplants, we’ll give them about four to six weeks to size up and aim for a mid to late May planting. You want to sow seeds about one eighth of an inch deep. That’s barely covering the seed with perhaps some vermiculite. Cover it lightly and keep the soil consistently moist. Then, once your seedlings emerge, thin them to three to four inches apart. Then gradually work toward a final spacing of about 12 inches. Farmer Fred: [1:32] Hey, and don’t throw away what you thin out. Those little guys can be transplanted elsewhere or even tossed into your dinner salad. One tip worth remembering, basil grown in full sun develops more essential oils, and that means richer, more complex flavor. Shade-grown basil? It just isn’t the same, really. So the age-old question is, well, how much basil should I plant? Over a whole season, plan on 5 to 10 plants per person for fresh use, and maybe another 5 to 10 plants if you want to put some away for storage. That may seem like a lot, but believe me, you will go through it. The Master Gardeners of Sonoma County have suggestions for basil varieties worth trying. Farmer Fred: [2:15] Sweet basil is probably the most popular. It’s a large-leafed Mediterranean variety. It’s the primary culinary basil used in Italian cuisine, and it gets up to about two, two and a half feet tall. Purple or opal basil is similar to sweet basil, but it has dark bronze-purple leaves and pink flowers, and that’s a welcome color contrast in the garden and in dishes, although visually it’s really not very suitable for pesto. A somewhat more tender variety, purple basil grows to about the same height as sweet basil, about two and a half feet. Lemon or lime basil is a smaller plant, about 12 inches tall with white flowers, and a mild citrus aroma paired with many types of food. There’s also Greek or globe basil. That’s even smaller, about 6 to 12 inches tall, with tiny compac
More from Beyond the Garden Basics
The high points of our chat with Lance Walheim in today’s podcast: * Pick the right variety first. Sweet types like navel oranges struggle indoors, so go with acidic fruit that ripens with less heat. * Meyer lemons, kumquats, Bearss limes and calamondins are the best bets. They’re compact, bloom often and fit in containers. * Regular lemons and grapefruit can survive indoors, but don’t expect much edible fruit from them. * Moving trees in and out is workable, but you need a transition period. Going outside in spring, start in shade after the last frost and increase light over several weeks. Coming inside, reverse the process and reduce light gradually. * The shock is real. Outdoor humidity can top 50 or 60 percent, while a heated house can drop to around 10 percent.
Redwood Barn Nursery owner Don Shor of Davis, California and myself finally got around to putting the 2026 Tomato season to bed…except for the ones that are hanging on for dear life. In today’s podcast, we sing the high notes and low notes of our tomato growing efforts this year, with lots of gardening advice thrown in for good measure. How was your tomato season? Any favorites? Any failures? Any surprises? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to mention where you were doing your gardening this summer. One of the first to comment was Keith, located in the eastern portion of the San Francisco Bay area. He actually commented before the tomato season was ending: “When you two get together to talk about the 2026 tomato season, I'd like to put in a good word for my San Marzano tomato harvest in Contra Costa County. I had a good crop, mostly because the weather wasn't too hot. Tomorrow is sauce-making day! I have a set-up that lets me cook outside.” There’s a complete, human-edited transcript of the podcast near the bottom of this newsletter. Here are the main points of our podcast conversation:
In today’s podcast, I tell a long, drawn out story about what happened the night before my wedding in 1980. Yes, it is a garden story, about the Cecile Bruner rose. But, we quickly turn to a chat with Ben Hanna of heirloomroses.com, who describes how he and his wife came to own the company after leaving corporate life over a decade ago. He says their shared love of gardening and roses, plus the chance to work closer to family, made the business a good fit. He also notes that all five of his children have worked at the nursery in different roles. In the newsletter, it's a list of the best roses for fall blooming color!
In today’s podcast, we talk with Mark Seibert of Sturdi-Built greenhouses in Oregon. The interview covers key considerations for first-time greenhouse buyers, including choosing the right site, with emphasis on sunlight, southern exposure when possible, and local hazards such as trees or lawn equipment. It also discusses heat control and utilities, recommending ventilation, shade cloth, fans, water access, and electrical service with safety protections. Seibert also explains that lean-to greenhouses can work if the roof pitch and site conditions fit, and says a well-built greenhouse can last 20 to 30 years. Growing Hobby Greenhouse Tomatoes in the Winter If you really want to demonstrate to your friends what a great investment your greenhouse is, nothing beats serving them home grown tomatoes...on New Year’s Day. Here’s What You’ll Need to Grow Greenhouse Tomatoes for the Winter and Spring:
The discussion in today’s podcast focuses on pumpkins. Warren Roberts, Superintendent Emeritus of the UC Davis Arboretum, explains that the pumpkin is botanically a fruit, though it is usually eaten as a vegetable. He says the plant belongs to the genus Cucurbita, which is native to the Americas, especially Mexico and the Andes. He describes pumpkin types and notes that many large pumpkins are hybrids, often involving Cucurbita maxima. He contrasts these with the smaller typical pumpkin species, Cucurbita pepo. The conversation also covers the origin of jack-o’-lanterns, whose purpose, Roberts says, came from hollowed-out turnips or rutabagas used to carry coals before matches were available (a handy skill to remember when AI takes over). Short of Garden Room? Grow Mini-Pumpkins! Admittedly, I got a late start on planting pumpkins this year: in early summer (the 4th of July weekend), and I had only one raised garden bed, 4 feet by 8 feet, still available. So, I planted three pumpkin seeds that would eventually produce medium sized pumpkins, the “Jack O’ Lantern” variety, a fruit that gets about 15 pounds. I won’t make that mistake again. Fast-forward three months, and I have a jungle of green vines from those three seeds that have escaped the confines of the raised bed and are now proceeding to swallow the trunks of my adjacent fruit trees. And it looks like the end-result for Halloween decorations will be only four or five medium sized pumpkins. Not much production, considering the sprawl of the vines. And three of them are still green, making me wonder if they will be nice orange orbs ready for carving at the end of the month. Fortunately for gardeners, many seed catalogs and nursery seed racks feature pumpkin varieties that mature in about 90 days and don’t do much sprawling: the miniature pumpkins. There are several advantages to growing pumpkins that weigh less than a pound: quicker maturity, a smaller footprint, and versatility in shapes, color, and uses.