Basil is my favorite herb. The smell alone of fresh basil is wonderful, but then the taste! I grow and use basil throughout the summer and then preserve it for use in winter by drying, freezing, or making pesto to freeze. I’ve been a fan of basil ever since I began making pesto about 25 years ago. An organic farmer at the farmer’s market in Wausau was passionate about basil and told me how great pesto was. Once I tasted pesto, basil has been in every garden I’ve had since—a sandy plot behind an apartment in Albuquerque, pots on a patio in Fitchburg, and now in a fenced-in raised bed.