Want to know how to make herbal extracts? It's a homesteading skill I'm sure you'll find useful in a lot of other projects.

This summer, use fresh garden basil and blossoms to make basil butter! This easy-to-make garlic herb compound butter can be frozen for later.

Preserving fresh basil in the refrigerator is simple with these basic ingredients you already have in your home.

Every summer, I make this beautiful, raspberry tinted opal basil vinegar with the herbs from the garden. It's a great marinade for flank steaks, or to use on a salad with olive oil. You'll definitely want some opal basil in your herb garden!

With just 2 ingredients and 15 minutes of work, you can learn how to make basil oil at home quickly and on the cheap!

Learn how to make a simple herb-infused salt with fresh basil leaves. This is a handy way to preserve basil from your garden once you've already made plenty of pesto for freezing. Use this herb-flavored salt to season & finish foods that naturally pair well with basil or mix it into DIY personal care products like salt scrubs & bath soaks! It also makes an excellent homemade gift for the foodies in your life.

You can extract oil from rosemary by simmering rosemary leaves in oil for three hours. Rosemary oil is a popular essential oil used in aromatherapy and massage.

This pesto is packed with fresh, intense and delicious flavors. The texture is smooth and creamy, and the fragrance is unbelievably divine! *Makes approximately ¾ cup

Basil-infused olive oil reminds me of Francesca's, one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago. Francesca's was the place to go for special occasions -- it was where D and I had our first official one-on-one date and where we ate the night we got engaged. Given its nearby neighborhood location (we frequented the Bryn Mawr outpost), it was also where we went to celebrate events or accomplishments with friends and family --- including three successful completions of the Chicago Marathon (I'm all…

Learn the best tips on how to prolong the life of bolting basil, what to do when your basil has bolted, how to keep basil from bolting, the important facts about basil, and why basil is bolting. All at The Ultimate Homestead. Click for this and more! #what to do with flowering basil #why is my basil flowering #how to keep basil from flowering