Basil Update

It's still a little early for putting out basil plants, since they're not good with chillier nighttime temperatures (I was reading today that those should be over 50 degrees, and this coming week is warming, but only to the mid- to upper 40s at night). But with the signage at the Pearl Street store on the giant basil plants indicating the sale would end May 13th, I planned to pick some up on my trip today, keeping them indoors until the weekend, then planting in pots that could also shelter inside if need be. But when I got to the store, I found the plants were much smaller than the ones I'd seen earlier, and also looked like something was eating them all. I opted to pass, thinking the lovely smaller organic ones from the Fresh Herb Company could be purchased later and potted at a more appropriate time, with just a little more patience applied for them to grow.

Return Of The Giant Basil Plants

They're baaack. Yesterday the Whole Foods on Pearl Street had huge organic basil plants, plus they're on sale for $6.99 a pot through May 13th. We're having really mild weather, but I think I'll wait till a little closer to the end of the sale to pick mine up. Although a pot can be dragged back inside if a cold night threatens (and it doesn't have to be a frost - basil is sensitive to cool temperatures), the memory is still fresh for me of the year I had a giant basil sheltering inside, and a stack of newspapers waiting to be recycled slid out and crushed the poor thing. But anyway, pesto is already on my mind, and these plants are so big, you can essentially start harvesting from them right away if you can't resist.

Giant Basil Plants Return To Whole Foods

I loved the huge basil plants Whole Foods had a couple of years ago, with the plant itself standing maybe eight inches high and practically ready to start harvesting from right at sale time. Maybe I've missed them, but I hadn't subsequently seen that big size since then until a couple of days ago. I stopped into the Baseline store just to pick up some milk, and boom, there in the entryway was a ton of them, on sale for $7.99 each (Osage Farm organic). I scooped one up, even though I already have a bunch of small organic basils getting started in their pots. Guess I'd better keep working on the pesto still in the freezer from last year's crop.

Return of the Giant Basil Plants

About a month and a half ago, our local Whole Foods stores had big one-gallon pots holding multiple organic basil plants selling for just $5 (indeed, I said organic for that size and price). I bought two, but our nights were still too cool to actually plant them outside back then. While they waited indoors, one met an unfortunate demise when a stack of newspaper en route to recycling accidentally landed on top of it. I immediately sought a replacement, but the gallon plants had vanished. I'm therefore pleased to report that they have returned in a big way, at least at the Pearl Street store, where I found glorious displays of them in several spots around the store today. My new one will get replanted straight into a large pot outside, next to its original surviving brother (or I guess step-brother), which is thriving.