Gardening for You: Preserve summer’s basil in herbal vinega

Gardeners are like the proverbial ant who gathers its harvest in the summer and stores it for the winter. We don’t want to see anything go to waste; testimonials are the many books, columns, recipes and advice on maximizing our crops.

Herbs are favorites for saving for future culinary uses: snipped fresh for seasoning or made into pesto; dried or frozen; infused in oils; made into butter, jams, jellies, and syrup.

For salad lovers, herbal vinegars are top on the list and basil makes a delicious herbal vinegar.

Basil herbal vinegar is a winner for the many distinctive flavors of the different varieties. Specialized molecules known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) give basil (and other herbs) unique flavor and aroma profiles. There are dozens of varieties of basil: a few are sweet (common) basils with large, lush green, glossy, cupped leaves; lemon basils with lemony, citrusy aromas and taste; cinnamon basils, cinnamon flavor; Italian basils reminiscent of anise; Thai basils, spicy anise/clove flavor, others spicy licorice flavor; purple or red basils of variegated of various shades of purple leaves with robust flavors.

The unique VOCs and flavor profiles of the different basils can be preserved in herbal vinegars, each with its unique taste. Basil herbal vinegar is easy to make.

Steps to make herbal vinegar:

Ellen Peffley taught horticulture at the college level for 28 years, 25 of those at Texas Tech, during which time she developed two onion varieties. She is now the sole proprietor of From the Garden, a market garden farmette. You can email her at [email protected]