Basil

I have been growing around a dozen Cinnamon Basil plants since mid march. I have now been able to harvest a significant amount of leaves for fresh use and for drying. I really like the cinnamon Basil plants. They have a reddish stalk and they have a definite Cinnamon flavor and smell.
My tallest plant is close to 18 inches and as I am growing them inside I am looking forward to quite a bit of fresh basil this summer.

In a couple weeks after I have rotated most of the plants I have outside I will be starting some other basils.
I plan on starting at least 4 plants of each of the following:
Lemon Basil, Lime Basil, Genovese Basil (the kind used in famous Italian pestos,) Purple Basil, Siam Queen Basil (Thai,) and Sweet Basil. I anticipate lots of basil this summer.

I have started to rotate my plants outside slowly. Currently I have planted about 1 mystery Cosmos, and 3 sunflowers outside as they are the hardiest. I lost one sunflower almost immediately. However, As it is now often in the 90s I will be putting a lot more out. Today I hope to put out at least 4 more wildflowers, and in 2 days I hope to have my garden all ready for the vegetables. In the meantime I am hardening them off to the outside weather. This is done by placing your plants outside (in a similar environment to where they will be planted) for about an hour one day, 2 hours the next, maybe 5 hours the next and after about a week they should be ready for the garden. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to slowly harden a lot of my plants off so I have been forced to do in a day or 2 what normally takes a week.
Below is a link to a post by The Desert Garden about how to protect your garden from grasshoppers. http://thedesertgarden.com/2008/04/from-inbox-grasshopper-attitudes.html
I have also been growing a Stevia plant also known as "The Sugar Herb." When I got this plant it was about 5" tall. Now it is easily a foot tall and flowering. It has little white flowers that kind of remind me of Baby's Breath. I look forward to some homegrown sweetener soon.

Respectfully submitted,
Joshua