Friday Foraging #74 - 7th Feb 2025

Basil.

Well the great thing about Basil, you don't need to go and forage it at all, you can grow this in your kitchen or greenhouse and even better still if you don't have those green fingers growing from seed, living plants are available in nearly supermarket and garden centre in Britain. Look out for Ocimum basilicum.

However -

Wild Basil (Clinopodiumvulgare) is native to the UK and can be found growing readily in the wild around hedgerows, meadows, grassy scrubland and woodland edges. Also along roadsides, but lets leave those were they are! It's a perennial herb with a little pinkish-purple flowers and it usually blooms from July to September.

Do not mistake them for being the same plant though, they belong to totally different genus and Wild Basil is not very aromatic at all. It does however have its own set of health related things it does and we will no doubt cover Wild Basil or Holy Basil at a later date.

So while the weather is still cold, just accept the easy root and pop to the shops to get your basil intake.