Dried basil is a sad thing imo. You could make pesto or freeze chopped basil in ice cube trays. But personally I regard fresh Basil as a seasonal delight and forego it when it's not in season.

I froze it last year as pesto, both blanched and unblanched, and it was both a waste of time IMHO. It has little taste. I agree, eat it fresh.

I want to try growing some indoors under lights this winter. Last year was an awesome basil year but this year the germination is poor and the seedlings just won't grow.

One idea I have read but not tried is to sow seeds throughout winter indoors on a window sill but not worry about trying to grow them into the size of plant you'd expect in summer. Just repeat sow and harvest as baby basil - doesn't matter of they get leggy or grow towards the light. All you are after is the flavour. One of these days I'll actually try it but my house doesn't have any windowsills to speak of.

I do basil micro greens with my seed starting lights a lot--as Flora mentioned, you're not trying to get large plants, but a bunch of little ones. I generally harvest shortly after the true leaves show. DH likes them in salads, but it also works well for pasta too. Takes about two or so weeks. But--don't fertilize! I had some sunflower micro greens going earlier this year with my veggie starts and where I normally do a low dose seaweed at first leaf stage, I did the micro greens right along with. Could taste the fert in the baby leafs.

I seem to overwater or underwater basil. Is there a magic amount?

Ballonflower, we like basil leaves on our home made pizzas. I'll have to try the micro greens instead. My seeds didn't grow this year.

Wendy--at a guess I would say your prob possibly has more to do with your mix or drainage. We would need more specifics to help--pot or ground; size, etc...

Zackey--I wish you well. We have lots of fun with them when I remember to seed a bunch. My seeds grew well, but i lost most of my plants in a hailstorm. Bummer, but that's how it goes. Started again, but we'll see how big they get--apparently with the el-niño conditions, we could have early frost here.

I like to use mine to infuse flavor into certain ingredients. I just put up some Strawberry Basil Vinegar that I've been infusing for the last month. It will keep for 8 months in my refrigerator and make some awesome salad dressings. I also used some of my basil infused in red wine yesterday and then turned it into a Basil Red Wine Jelly that can be used for meat marinades, salad dressings, and is scrumptious on crackers with cheese.

I agree that pesto is best fresh and when you freeze it doesn't last long and the flavor is just so so.

I make proto-pesto. Lots of fresh clean dry basil leaves, garlic cloves, a splash of lemon juice to keep the color, and olive oil. Process in food processor until smooth. Portion into ice cube trays, wrap, freeze. Due to the heavy aroma, it should be at least double wrapped or the smell will enter the rest of the food in the freezer. When I want pesto out of season, I thaw enough cubes, add cheese and nuts, some extra oil, and away we go.