Basil, I feel stupid

[Susan W]

To set stage, I started purple basil last winter, purple ruffles and opal, and regular green. Ruffles is purple, most of opal is green.
Fast forward, potted up. Ruffles very slow to catch on (and I have since started more seeds, bought starts). The opal, purple and green potted up and growing. Green not marked as opal.

Fast forward. Some of the green basil in pots has nasty marks. 1st thought hail and other storms. Was about to pull out and put in fresh regular green starts (will do anyway). Looked again today. It is strong and healthy. This is the green opal with purple showing up in leaves!

Current plan to cut the blotchy basil and sell Saturday at the market. Great taste, funny looking. Then put in regular basil more familiar to customers!

BTW, a slow spring for basil and other warm weather stuff as it has been a bit rainy and cool.

Trial and error. I am great at both!

[applestar]

...you are reminding me that my seed starting tray of 5 kinds of Basils need up potting....

Sounds like yours are off to a great start! You might be able to SELL the unusual=rare trait of the speckled opal basil. What do you think? Let your customers taste test:

--- I'm thinking tiny crackers (I was just eating Annies bunnie-shaped whole wheats), a schmear of cream cheese (or chevre) a slice of grape or cherry Tom, a drizzle of evoo and a piece of that basil....

[Susan W]

Now I feel even more stupid. (do we have a group meeting for garden-stupid?!)

I looked at those pots and plants again. Most of the starts, if not all, were bought. (have tag/date in pot) I got the 1st ones I saw back in March, potted up, moved in and out of house several times. Was hoping top get a jump start on season. Hah! They have never been pretty, and didn't have that green round puffy leaf of regular basil. Lighter green, purple showing from veins, and more pointy leaves, not the round. I think there was a mix up of babies before I got them!

[Susan W]

FWIW, basil update. I harvested what I could for today's (farmer) market, had just a couple of baggies. I showed some to my neighbor, Bill Worm Guy. He said weather (cool, not enough sun etc).
Short and long, I am ripping out the bad, freshening dirt, planting fresh (green) starts. As I was yanking out some, only been in there 1 -2 months was coarse, tough, had great root systems. Compost has some tasty basil! Tough and coarse is what we get later in season, not now.

BTW, I did get a 5 gal bucket of worm pooh from worm guy, and working it in the pots and hopefully in ground this next few days. ($10 for 5 gal bucket. totally fresh with some babies squirming in there is a deal!)

[Runningtrails]

My basil isnot up yet! Slow to sprout this spring.

btw Susan, I grew up in Memphis