Harvesting and saving Basil and other Herbs before frost

I've been growing basil in my garden for quite a few years now. The secret to preserving basil is to chop the basil in the food processor with enough olive oil that all the basil gets coated with oil. This keeps it from turning dark in the freezer, and when you need basil to make something wonderful like basil vinaigrette, or Pesto with Whole Pine Nuts, you just let it thaw and proceed like it was fresh basil. I've used my frozen basil in things calling for fresh basil. Whenever I get that taste of basil in the cold of winter, it brings back the feeling of summer.

Here are Step-by-Step Instructions on how you can freeze your basil to use all through the winter. First, you've got to have some basil growing that needs to be harvested.
Basil will actually produce more if it's vigorously trimmed a few times each year. Just be sure to leave on a few leaves that's where the plant gets its food. I pinch off all the basil leaves, discard the stems, and wash the leaves very well in a salad spinner. Spin them as dry as you possibly can.
Put a couple of handfuls of the basil into the food processor at a time.
Drizzle about 3 T extra virgin olive oil over the basil and pulse about 15 times, until all the basil is coarsely chopped and coated with olive oil

I have two sizes of these little plastic containers with tight lids that I use to freeze the Herbs in. You can also use the cubed ice trays; freez the trays with the basil inside and then when frozen empty into a ziplock bag. Remove one or several cubes when needed.
You can use other herbs as well; our freezer has a lot of wonderful frozen things like basil, thyme leaves, rosemary leaves, lemon juice, lime juice, chipotle chiles, bay leaves, ginger root, and more!Have FUN experimenting with Herbs!
Gary/Louisville