It seems like ten years ago or so, you could get a big bunch of fresh basil for about $0.99 at most grocery stores. They would stock it in rubber-banded bundles, with the other greens like parsley and collards.
I haven’t seen that for years now. The only basil I see is in small amounts, maybe an ounce, packed in those little polystyrene clamshells with the name of some fancy herb farm, for about $2.49. Either that or live basil growing in a pot that costs maybe $5 and doesn’t last long.
Has there been some issue with the basil crop, like disease or pests, that has cut into the supply?
You can still get large bundles of basil around here. Trader Joe’s has it in large clam shells for less than $5. It is not as cheap as parsley, but it is still cheaper per ounce than rosemary or thyme.
Your location is listed as New England Hyperelastic, so you can’t be too far from me, relatively speaking (I live in northern VT). My primary work is as a produce manager in grocery retail. I currently stock just a few types of fresh basil - this is my favorite, by far. Our chain carries the “clamshell” types, but they’re far inferior, IMO. They’re picked leaves, and dry out too fast. Hydro basil is a bagged product with a full plant and root ball in water, as delivered for sale. If purchased fresh and in good condition, they will keep for up to a week or more (done this myself as a test) when kept watered up to the top of the root ball, and in their bag (and by a window, of course). Pick off leaves as needed; discard when spent. These plants aren’t meant to be transplanted, so don’t bother trying. I highly recommend them to customers - $2.99 each in my price zone, which compared to a buck ten years ago ain’t bad. Food prices have skyrocketed in the last few years (another thread, that) so a truly fresh product for a couple bucks isn’t too bad, if you like fresh. Dried is no comparison, also IMO.
Oh, regarding your OP- shortages are rare, from my standpoint as an operator. Sometimes the buyers will switch to another brand during crop interruptions (too small, outsold, etc.), but almost never completely unavailable like many other produce items.
I’m no Green Thumb, but find basil to be about the easiest plant I’ve ever tried to grow - I get a couple of seedlings from the nursery every spring and repot, with plenty of water and sun they thrive until a hard freeze comes (so, where I live, an ample ~7 month supply for about $6).
Bummer. I was at the store yesterday needing basil and they were out of the clamshell stuff. I bought one of the plants on the apparently misguided assumption that I could keep it as a constant source of basil, just as I do with my parsley and rosemary plants.
I do the same as zombywoof- buy a plant from the garden center in the spring and pot it near my door. I find it lasts longer if I pull the flower buds off whenever I notice them as I walk by. I did try planting the rooted one from the grocery store, but it died.
The one I got last spring is just starting to die now.
They do fine as long as you keep the soil moist actually. You just have to give them time for the plant to adapt to growing in soil. In a sense, the hydro basil isn’t too far off from a cutting that has grown roots in water.
I’ve been getting bundles of basil at the grocery without a problem. Sometimes they don’t have them, just the clam shell stuff, but usually it’s available. I don’t recall exact prices, but the top end was no more than $4 for a bigger bundle than I can use in a reasonable amount of time.
Couple side thoughts: bump, you have my kudos for having a right solid green thumb.
Our regular customers who’ve tried to replant tell me they haven’t had any luck, and the folks at the trade shows say they aren’t meant for transplant. They’re a tender plant that (usually) undergoes the added stress of being shipped on a refrigerated route truck - sometimes long distances. Ours spend about four hours on a 35° truck (they come with the rest of our perishable loads, and really dislike cold past the forties, IIRC.) I always pull them right off the pallets at delivery time. Anyway, nice job keeping them going!
zombywoof - I agree wholeheartedly on growing your own. We have a fairly short growing season here in VT, but basil is quite easy to grow. Kinda sensitive to water stress, but they make it pretty obvious if they’re thirsty. We pinch tops off regularly-it seems to help them leaf out and grow fuller. We pick what we need all summer, then freeze rinsed leaves (blotted) in ziploc bags for off season use in stews, pasta sauce, etc. Works great, and way cheaper (and better flavor) than the expensive dry stuff.
I buy a huge bunch of basil at the local farmer’s market in late summer, groom it, and freeze most. I also make a basil/olive oil/Parmesan cheese/garlic paste and freeze that in small blocks for instant pesto sauce. It lasts for nearly a year. Cost for basil, $1. I think last summer it increased to $1.25.
I had a single basil plant in my aerogarden that when full adult was growing literally 5 to 6 inches a week, we had to use it or it would have gotten too tall for the aerogarden. We literally had enough to make a cup of pesto a week [or lots of red sauce for other projects]
