basil

Back in october I potted up some basil and brought it inside for the winter. We had fresh basil for four months. Now there's only a few stalks left, but it still appears to be fairly healthy. It's supposed to be an annual, but I'm going to replant this in the garden and see what happens. I've been setting it outside a few hours each day in the sun to acclimatize it first. I'm going to plant more basil from seed too, it does so well. Then I'll put mint in the pot.

Today I raked clean the two main beds- the raised one near the patio and the long one against the opposite fence. All the material (including pulled weeds) off the raised bed I heaped on top of the pile. The leaves raked off the long bed I put in large black trash bags- filled four of them. Will save to add to pile later. I was surprised how much there was. The soil underneath is soft and dark. Did the leaf mulch help warm and improve the soil overwinter. I still have to weed the long bed.