The spring season this year has been a bit of a mess with extreme cold in March and extreme heat in April, continuing into May. These unusual conditions make starting plants from seed and nurturing small plants quite difficult. Cold temperatures at night following hot days can damage young plants. Better to skip over spring …Read More about Summer gardening 2018
Posts relating to basil
Planning for summer
Summer may be some way off but it does no harm to start thinking about just what you want to achieve in the garden (or on the balcony) this year. This all starts by ordering the seeds in the next week or two and being ready to start them indoors after Valentine’s day in February. …Read More about Planning for summer
Second Basil harvest
This year has been a good year for basil. With one harvest already taken several weeks ago it is time to take a second harvest from the plants. With luck, and a bit more summer, the remaining plants will grow out and fill out once more over the next few weeks to provide a third …Read More about Second Basil harvest
First harvest of basil
This year is proving to be another very good year for Basil (two in a row). Basil can be difficult to get started in a Belgium spring with mixed weather conditions and cold nights. Basil does not like cold or damp conditions. However, our recent heatwave and the continuing warmth means another excellent year for …Read More about First harvest of basil
Potting up Basil
Summer is not complete without basil. This wonderful aromatic herb grows well from seed but does not do well in cold or wet conditions during its early stages. This makes growing basil in Brussels quite problematic some years with cold nights or damp conditions. This year looks like a good year. Basil seeds are quite …Read More about Potting up Basil
Basil in Brussels
Every gardener knows basil, the “royal herb.” In recent years more people have been reporting difficulty getting basil to grow in Brussels (myself included). Unfortunately, this sun loving plant is particularly sensitive to the disruptive and un-seasonal weather now common in Belgium. Basil is started from seed indoors usually around March. The difficult part is …Read More about Basil in Brussels