Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum)
Tulsi, also know as Holy Basil or Sacred Basil, is a perennial plant in tropical climates and is grown as an annual in our garden. Used for thousands of years in India and SE Asia as a tea or tincture to treat a range health conditions, this beautiful plant is considered sacred in Hinduism, earning the name Holy Basil. Tusli is a wonderful companion plant and hums with pollinators when blooming.
Origin: In 2004, well before our first child was born, we spent nearly a year traveling in SE Asia. While in Cambodia in the city of Siem Reap, we stayed in a wonderful guest house near the Temples of Ankor Wat.
At the guesthouse, there was a beautiful courtyard and garden filled with an array of tropical plants. All types of orchids bloomed in the garden and there were many fruits like mango and banana that the hosts would harvest and serve for our breakfast.
There was a large patch of Tulsi in the courtyard and the inn keeper gave us some seeds from the plant. She was pleased by the thought of us growing the seeds from her garden in ours at home. Many years later now, the Tulsi from Cambodia still grows in our garden.
(Approximately 100 seeds per packet)
Planting Instructions: sow 2 tiny seeds 1/4" deep 12" apart when danger of frost has passed in spring. Full sun.
Recipe Ideas:
Tulsi make a wonderful tea and we find it to be very calming. Just pick a bunch of tulsi leaves and dry them either in a food dehydrator, or you can put them in the oven at the lowest temperature (usually around 150 - 200 F) for about an hour until they're very dry but not browned. Then just chop or crumble the leaves up and store in a jar until tea-time! We like to make a mix of dried chamomile flowers and tulsi leaves for winter teas.
