Basil harvest

Last year I never got around to harvesting much basil, and what I had in the freezer was lost to the hurricane, so my supplies were really low. So when I walked by the garden on Sunday and saw how beautiful the plants were, I pinched the top of every stem.

Here you see the washed leaves on parchment in a sheet pan - for hours of drying in a 150 F convection oven, and then after they were nice and dry. My hands smelled so good after crunching up those leaves. My basil jar now is full, so I can relax and enjoy fresh basil the rest of the season.