Culinary herbs are used in the preparation and cooking of food.Some are food and drink additives of mostly botanical origin used in nutritionally insignificant quantities for flavouring or colouring and all can be grown in your garden
A popular easy to grow culinary herb is basil which some people call “married man pork”.   .
There are different types of basil plants, usually showing differing leaf colouration with varying scents and flavours.
Bush and sweet basil have tender bright green foliage, which emit a spicy, clove-like aroma. Sweet basil leaves have a stronger perfume than bush basil and are smaller. Both varieties bear small, white-lipped flowers .
Sweet basil grows to 75 cm and bush basil to 30 cm.
Leaves of the basil plant that are used in cooking, can range from green to reddish to purple in colour, depending on the variety.
There are more than 60 different varieties of basil, each with its own distinct flavour.
These flavours include hints of lemon, thyme, jasmine, clove, cinnamon, and anise.
Basil is originally native to India, Asia and Africa.
The scientific name for basil is Ocimum basilicum.
Basil has been used in kitchens for the past five thousand years-making it one of the oldest known culinary herbs In India, basil was consecrated to the Hindu god, Vishnu, whose wife Tulasi (also known as Tulsi) was said to have taken the form of basil when she came to earth.
Many   Hindus avoid harming basil plants, unless there is a good reason, and even then offer up prayers of forgiveness for touching a part of Tulasi.
African legend claims that basil protects against scorpions, while the English botanist Culpeper cites one “Hilarius, a French physician” as affirming it as common knowledge that smelling basil too much would breed scorpions in the brain.
Basil plants can be grown in containers or in the ground. They are sun-loving plants so a warm location is desirable.
For those who are into gardening,  an added benefit to growing your own, basil is  that it is said  to repel flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches
As has been stated before   the long serving herb basil  or  “married man pork” as we know it, features  in cuisines worldwide  an can be easily grown in limited yard space or in your garden.
Plants are available in nurseries in and around the city.