#ygkChallenge: Sweet, Sweet Basil
Welcome to Kingstonist’s weekly challenge, dare, resolution or whatever you prefer to call it. Each week we establish a new and ambitious community goal, encouraging our readers, followers, friends and families to step out of their comfort zones and do something great, and hopefully a little out of the ordinary. Consider this your official and personal invitation to join us in completing a small but meaningful achievement. By taking part in this community-wide initiative, we hope to make Kingston a slightly better place to live, work and play. And of course, we also hope that you will feel proud of your contribution and achievement.
This week’s challenge encourages you to:
Plant Sweet Basil for good health! The use of herbs as medicine is deeply rooted across many ancient cultural traditions. From the healing rituals of the indigenous people to the development of Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine medical systems, plants have played an integral role in the prevention and treatment of disease. In last week’s challenge, we asked you to plan and plant your gardens as spring is fast approaching. Furthering this challenge, I encourage you to incorporate a medicinal herb in your windowsill garden this week. Ocimum basilicum or Sweet Basil, a common culinary herb has numerous health benefits. Some benefits include calming stomach cramping, decreasing inflammation, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, and easing tension. Not only does this herb taste great in your tomato sauce it can also be made into a hot water infusion (tea). Using your fresh herb, combine ¼ cup of leaves with 1 cup of hot water, let stand for 5 minutes, strain, and enjoy! Happy Planting!
Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by sharing the link and encouraging the participation of your friends and family. By joining together in our weekly challenge, we hope to accomplish big and positive things for our community.
Thanks to fundamium for today’s photo.