Not much beats the excitement here at NorthEastSeed of those first sprouts! And if you have been forced to eat Basil grown by others, you may not recognize these:
These are 3-day-old Basil! For the averge family, one 2020 flat like this will keep you in Pesto and Calabrese Salad all.summer.long! These early sprouts do best with a cool light, say 6,500K. If you go this route, remember that the seeds germinated in very even moisture, maintained by a non-permeable cover. Once uncovered, maintaining proper moisture is now a priority.
Another herb that benefits from an early start is Dill. Once you have this in plentiful supply, you will find yourself adding it to all sorts of foods. Not just Fern Ridge Farm Pickles and Fish, and salad, and eggs, and . . . well, you get the point. These Dill were started the same day as the Basil:
Dill will grow dangly at the start, but will quickly fall over and re-root themselves. If you let a few seed-heads dry in the garden through the autumn, they will self propogate.