Basil is part of a group of spring crops, which also includes peppers, parsley, okra and eggplants.
You can always preserve your important herbs when vegetables stop producing by drying and storing them.
There are two reasons you can preserve basil seeds – you can consume them, with the other option of planting them. This makes learning how to clean basil for harvesting, drying and/or storing a function of interest.
With respect to best practices in storing basil, you would like to dry the seeds and put them in an air-tight container. This is important because this time frame determines the germination rate of the seeds.
After harvesting basil seeds, you can also choose to plant them after the final spring frost outdoors, or you can grow them indoors about 1 month before the last frost.
Basil likes warm temperatures and the basil seeds will germinate rather quickly after you put them in the ground.
Basil plants do better when planted in an area that is easy to pollinate, so consider adding these as neighbors to other flowering plants such as tomatoes.
Why You Should Dry Basil Seeds
Basil is categorized as an annual plant that needs to be replanted every growing season.
As an annual plant, you can’t have a continuous supply during the growing season, so in any case, this is highly important to dry and conserve for when availability is low.
Also, given that their dried basil will last longer than five years, it is possible to preserve them for long periods if dried and stored properly.
In harvesting season, they will all be available and at fair prices, however in the off-seasons, they’re typically harder to find and sold at a premium price. The same goes for basil seeds. So if you have basil seeds available, you’ll definitely want to dry and store them.
Conversely, even when purchasing, it’s a good idea to purchase in bulk during harvesting season, then dry and preserve to use later in the season to off-set their price increase.
In addition, basil plants do not really grow well in cold weather and frosty conditions.
While you can grow indoors during the cold and frost, depending on the size of your farm, this can be a challenge for even the most successful farmers without an indoor farm.
Then there is also evidence from researchers of the health benefits of basil seeds,
Basil seeds are high in dietary fiber and statistics show more than 90 percent of Americans don’t meet their daily recommended dietary fiber intake. Therefore, having basil seed alternate the everyday a meal of dietary fiber, is the way to go.
Basil seeds are also beneficial to individuals trying to manage weight. Basil seeds also have anti-diabetic properties that can benefit people afflicted by excessive weight and diabetes either issues or a combination of both.
Moreover, basils carry antioxidants and have antibacterial properties that can be good for your health and well-being overall.
Thus, conserving basil seeds will make sure you get to benefit from all these health properties year round.
Lastly, basil plants grown during on full sunshine and warm and consistent temperatures will have a better taste than producing them grown during cold and frost, but in any case, it’s very important they are dried well and stored because moisture can destroy them.
How to Dry Basil Seeds
Basil seeds need to be dried before being stored.
To dry basil seeds one can use air drying or sun drying methods after the harvest. However, please consider the weather conditions; wind will blow away the seeds!
You can air-dry your basil seeds using a screen in a warm, cool, and dry environment. You want to dry the seeds in a dry, and clean environment where the seeds do not come into contact with moisture that would affect the shelf-life.
In the long term, moisture can also affect the flavor of the basil seeds.
One disadvantage of this method is that it requires high temperatures and can take a long time; longer if the weather does not provide adequate drying conditions.
One’s second option to dry basil seeds is to use a method known as sun drying.
Sun drying is highly recommended during the tropical climate, or during summer.
Basil seeds can be spread in the sun to dry, keeping in mind that the weather does not require wind- this is critical to avoid the seeds being blown away.
Storage of Basil Seeds
Seeds that are stored correctly can remain viable for as long as five years.
However, to optimize the storage time for preserved basil seeds, you will want to ensure that they are stored appropriately.
This is important because part of seed longevity is determining the germination rate.
Seeds that are over five years old, have less potential for germination. There are several different methods of storing seeds that you can check out when saving basil seeds.
First and foremost, you should be storing your preserved basil seeds in low-temperature and humidity levels. You do, however, want to avoid the moisture levels in the bags at a grocery store, or any outdoor bags, to further enhance the seed’s viability.
It is acceptable to refrigerate or freeze your seeds, as long as the container or material does not absorb the moisture.
You also want to be drying the basil flower before the seeds are removed and dried for storage.
To dry the flower, you may hang in a dry room, preferably upside down for a quicker dry.
Tip: If you would like to dry the flowers by placing everything in a poly bag, the flowers will dry in approximately one month and will produce the basil seeds for you.
How to Store Basil Seeds and Leaves
If you want to preserve both the leaves and the seeds, you can use the following methods.
Use a Plastic Bag
Packages made of plastic offer an easy way to conveniently preserve basil seeds.
Be sure they are an airtight and dry package.
Second, you’ll want to hydrate them in a package with something that will absorb any moisture.
You can also take advantage of these methods while storing preserved basil leaves, whose freshness can be stored for a period of a week.
Here is the simple process:
- Fill lukewarm water into a container
- Put the basil cuttings
- And then cover using a plastic bag
Be sure not to damage the basil leaves by wrapping them too closely. This way they receive some air.
Keep your basil in a cool location like a kitchen table or counter, but under no circumstances should you place it in a refrigerator or near a window.
While hot air ruins the leaves more quickly, hot conditions cause the leaves to droop quickly.
And, importantly, you should change the water after two days and before the weekend consume the basil leaves.
Wrapping Basil Leaves Using a Paper Towel
This technique is not too difficult to extend the shelf life of your basil leaves for about a week. It’s a better alternative to the plastic wrap strategy and a vase.
You will cut your basil leaves, and you will place them onto a kitchen towel or a paper towel, and just kind of roll it up gently, wrapping it.
You would then place that towel inside of a ziplock and place that in the refrigerator.
By wrapping your basil leaves up this way, the leaves stay moist, they do not wilt, and the leaves also stay fresher for 7 days.
Additionally, you can extend this time to about two months by adding olive oil to your basil leaves.
Dry It Out for Years of Preservation
While this method can be considered a little bit more tricky compared to the previous two, it is the best basil method for preservation until about two years.
Steps to take:
- Arrange your basil leaves in a single layer on parchment paper on a baking sheet and place in the oven on low for four hours or until the leaves crumble upon touching.
- As the leaves dry, check on them regularly as they dry and become very easy to crumble.
- Take the sheet out and let the leaves cool, then place them in an airtight container.
- Keep the container sealed and dry, and the basil will remain fresh for use for two years.
Freezing Basil Leaves
Of the different ways to store basil, freezing is by far the simplest and easiest way since the basil leaves will last up to six months, fresh, in the freezer.
You can put your basil leaves in a freezer bag and put it in the freezer, or you can chop the leaves up, put them into ice cube trays with a little bit of water, freeze them, then pop them out for later use.
I tell you this because if you have basil growing in your garden be sure to collect basil seeds, dry them out, and save the seeds so you can once again enjoy basil during the winter.
As an added bonus, if your basil plants provided flowers or seeds preserve them for the next years growing season.
Long story short: Saving basil seed is cost effective, allows marinades & delicious meals during the winter months and promotes many health benefits.
Final Thoughts
Basil seeds are easy to save, and you’ll find lots of reasons to save them.
Basil seeds are very small, so it is not complicated to store them in small containers; also, when you think about how much pesto you can make from a single seed, you will be even more inclined to save them.
By saving seeds, you are also increasing your self-sufficiency, future potential yield, and guarantee yourself wonderful food throughout the year.