SOWING YOUR FREE SEEDS

Here we offer some tips on growing your free KG seeds this month

LEMON BASIL

There are many different basils you can grow. The most commonly grown is ‘Genovese’ with its large leaves and distinctive flavour, but you can get basils with different size and shaped leaves. Some may be dark purple, some ruffled. We are giving away lemon basil this month and, as the name suggests, it has slightly citrus overtones to the flavour.

Lemon basil can be used the same as other basils, but it will work well with chicken and fish dishes too. It will also make a lovely pesto or you could finely chop and stir into pasta. If making a stir fry, at the last moments of cooking sprinkle in a bit of lemon basil for a zingy flavour.

HOW TO GROW

Basil is a tender plant but can be sown all year round on a windowsill. The seeds will need a temperature of about 15-20C (60-68F) to germinate. It is a good idea to sow a succession of small pots of basil so you always have young tender leaves and shoots to harvest. Eventually, older plants may produce flowers and the leaves become tough and stronger in flavour.

A small 9cm (3½in) pot is fine to use. Fill with multi-purpose compost and gently level and firm the surface. Sprinkle the seeds over the surface. You can sow roughly 10 seeds evenly over the compost so you get a pot of several small plants rather than just one. Lightly cover with more compost or vermiculite and then water. Place on a warm windowsill.