I know you’ve seen those fresh basil plants in the produce section at your local grocery store. They tempt me every time I walk past. Dreaming of the caprese salads, fresh pesto and eggplant parm that I’d whip up with a beautiful bunch of those fragrant green leaves.
I’ve had my heart broken in the past by impulsively tossing one or two in my cart, only to get home and have them wilt before I’m ready to use them. If I remember to place the plant in a sunny spot on the counter, and water it when I get home, it may last for about a week, but alas, it dies too…
Let’s start off with the fact that I succumbed to buying yet another one of those bunches today. So if I can’t beat em, join em… Does that work here?
So if I was going to make the purchase anyway, I had to find an easy and free way to refresh them, and extend their life. Because let’s be real, I’m spending $2.99 on a plant that I usually kill off in a matter of days, so I don’t feel like I should invest a whole lot in trying to keep it alive.
Bringing this little money trap home, and not forgetting it in the car was the first step. As I mentioned, the thing that really ropes me in, is the bountiful bunches of vibrant green leaves, never mind the 1inch seed pot that its roots are crammed into.
As I carefully removed the plastic covering, I quickly realized that separating the tightly wound roots was going to be a bigger challenge than I’d thought.
Holding the plant in one hand, and the small wad of dirt in the other, I ran it under luke warm water for nearly 5 minutes, to break up the dirt and loosen the roots. Eventually the water began to run clear and I could start to pull apart a few of the stems from one another.
By the time I was done picking apart the jumbled mess of stems and roots, I had roughly 30 potentially viable basil plants. This was a tad overwhelming, as my mind began to wrap around the need to find homes for these little guys.
Luckily during the summer, I tend to hoard those small black pots that home the seedlings I’ve purchased at a nursery. So filling those with potting soil, and dropping in 3-4 separated stems in each; they were starting to look hopeful.
Now, I may not have mentioned that it’s currently a sunny 47 degree January day, near Charlotte, North Carolina. So, being the purebred Wisconsinite that I am, dressed in flip flops, yoga pants and a breastfeeding tank; I begin stacking my newly potted plants on a shelf I’d dragged into a sunny spot in the yard.
One might say that 47 degrees would likely shock these freshly plucked basil leaves, and you would be absolutely correct. When I looked outside about an hour later, I was less than impressed to see them all wilted and some beginning to brown.
It’s wouldn’t be a typical basil adventure for me if I didn’t kill off at least some of the plant…
In an attempt to salvage what I could, I relocated the pots to our SW facing window on the 3rd floor of our house. I should have started there, but at least now they are sitting in a much more hospitable 77degrees with sunlight.
Update: it’s been 3 days of watering, sunlight and warmth; 6 of the 10 pots have survived, and are taking well to their new home. So what have I learned here? Not a whole lot, I’ll likely keep buying grocery store basil plants, and killing them both quickly and slowly…