Tulsi, Tea Basil, Holy Basil
The easiest tulsi to grow in temperate climates, this strain was a treasure from the Abundant Life collection. Vigorous and easy to grow. One of the very best tea herbs, with a flavor that is multi-dimensional and satisfying all by itself. Our favorite evening cup. Some very successful salad farmers use this as their secret ingredient in salad mixes--a few tiny leaves add a cooling, spicy quality. And of course there are the many herbal uses. As Richo Cech says " If you want to be an herbalist and are afraid you might tell somebody to take the wrong thing, then tell them to drink tulsi tea and you will be right every time." Plant at your last frost date and cut for tea as soon as the plants are bushy, then side-dress with compost. You can cut several times in a summer. 200 seeds
Newly classified as Ocimum africanum. Photo by Karen Morton.