How do I start to grow basil from a seed before I plant it in the ground?

put it in some moist cotton wool, i did it with parsley before.

The wet paper towel or cotton ball work. When you place it in a plastic bag tape the bag to a window that gets direct sunlight at least half the day. Also keep the cotton or paper moist. Don't let it dry out.

Leave it like this until you see the seed germinate (sprout) then you can pop it in the ground.

Another alternative is a small plastic planter cup (1-2" dia.) Place potting soil in there then push the seed into the soil and cover. Give the seed some vitamin B (available at gardening stores) and place plastic wrap over the planter. Sit this on your window sill for a couple of days. You can poke a few holes in the plastic wrap with a fork, but the idea is to keep up the humidity. Basically you will be giving the seed everything it neds to germinate and feed immediately.

After a couple of days take the plastic wrap off and leave the planter cup on the window sill until the basil sprouts. Once it is about 2" tall you are ready to transplant.

This can be done on a larger scale with a wood planter box. I have used a planter box that was 3"x24" to startseveral seeds at once. You can wrap the whole planter box. Once the plants are ready to be transplanted you just carefully remove each one and place them in your garden.

you can wrap the seeds in wet paper towel for 18-24 hours before you plant them to give em a head start.

You can use one of those seed starter kits with the miniature green houses in the window. Keep it moist. Good luck

wet a paper towel. fold it in half. put the seedin between. put it in a ziplock bag. put it in the sun. and leave it there.