Basil flower how-tos, what to do with a flowering basil, and how to harvest and use basil from your garden.

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I feel bad when I throw away the basil flowers because they are precious.

The plant will produce more leaves if you pinch off the basil flowers.This is a horticultural answer, but it will help you make more delicious dishes with leaves.

If you want to cook with them, I would recommend putting them in a pouch with cooking twine, as I know some people who don't like to eat flowers, but enjoy the bitter taste.

If you like them, they can be used to make a beautiful garnish for a salad.I usually stick to Martha's suggestion of keeping them pinched so the plant produces more leaves.

The leaf growth suffers once the flowers appear, as the plants energy and resources become more dedicated to flowering.When the leaf growth suffers, the flavor of the leaves suffers as well, as mentioned in my comment on Martha's answer.

The site suggests shaking the basil flowers and leaving them on a window sill for a month to make a light basil olive oil.I've never tried olive oil in a container in the sun, but I would be interested in trying it.The general idea is cool.

I like basil flowers.I use them all the time.At different times of the summer/growth stage, different varieties of basil will result in more bitter or delicate tasting buds.I have had some really floral tasting flowers this summer.

I'll use them for a more complex, slightly bitter flavor and make sure to pick off any stems.

They are a great way to serve stone fruit, including plums, peaches, and nectarines.They are gorgeous in salads and panzanella.

My favorite way to use them is to make basil flower ice cream.Once you have achieved the flavor you desire, remove them from the plain ice cream base.If you allow the base to sit overnight, it will strengthen a bit as it sits in the freezer, so keep that in mind.If you are making a small amount at home, this is not a problem, but more of a tip for professionals.

You can use them the same way you would basil leaves.They are more decorative in your dish.

There is a beverage called vinaigrette.Put the blossoms in a jar, cover and keep in the fridge for a few weeks to flavor them.It's delicious, but use it sparingly.

African Blue Basil has a lot of flowers that are not bitter at any time.Basil Bud Ice Cream is our favorite use for them.The best ice cream I've ever had.The basil in these flowers has a strong floral flavor that meshes well.It's great fresh as a salad topping.

You haven't lived until you grow African Blue Basil.Everyone raves about it.We just finished a huge amount of pesto to keep us through the winter.It's the best plant I've ever grown.We had a lot of plants this year.By topping them, you cause them to bush out a lot more dramatically.

I'm cooking my fresh tomatoes in a can of basil flowers.I like that it's strong in flavour.If you don't change it.

I like to put the flowers along with lavender, lemon balm and mint in some water and then drink as tea once it hits boiling point.It's super delicious.

Basil and Tomatoes are planted to deter insects.It works well if you have one Basil Plant every fifth tomato plant.I let the flowers go until the end of the tomato season.I have some bushes that are three feet tall.Three feet in length.I usually give away fresh ones or put them in the shed to dry for people who want to preserve them.When we can Salsa or other tomato products, we use some for flavor.

I don't notice the flowers being bitter or making the leaves bitter once the plants start flowering because I use them in soups and pesto most of the time.The flowers seem to have a slight flavor.Basil leaves are small and fresh when they are young, so I cut them while they're young.