We’re half way through our summer CSA season and so far (knock on wood) we’ve been able to deliver produce that we’re really proud of. We’re trying not to act surprised.

While most crops have grown well, basil has sent us on an emotional roller coaster throughout the season.

We seeded the basil in trays in the greenhouse way back in April. And after its first true leaves emerged, the tiny plants stalled out. We breathed a sigh of relief when it started growing again after a hot week in May.

In early June we moved about 250 little basil plants into our tunnel. They thrived and by the end of June we had basil to share with our CSA members. We diligently pruned (i.e., harvested) the top leaves before the basil flowered so that the plants would get bushy and the leaves wouldn’t get bitter.

We were so excited! Our basil was gorgeous. Big, soft, aromatic leaves on vigorous plants. Mark declared it the “best basil in Washington.” We added more compost and some blood meal when the leaves started to get a little stressed. No cause for concern, we’ll just observe and respond.

Since we had to harvest basil every week before it flowered, our CSA customers got bags full of basil. We spent hours making pesto to fill our freezer and tried some new recipes like delicious basil ice cream.

In the middle of July, we went on several field trips to other farms. When we saw the other farmers’ basil, Mark and I looked at their plants and scoffed, “Our basil looks waaaay better than this.” It turned out, that we celebrated a bit too soon. In just a few weeks we were finding powdery mildew on our basil leaves. We thinned out the plants since 6 inch spacing was proving to be very tight. Maybe better airflow would solve this problem.

Alas, it did not. After a few days of mourning we clipped out all of our basil. Such a sad occasion never smelled so good. Now we’re picking beautiful tomatoes and caprese salad is not on the menu. Luckily a new crop of cilantro will be ready soon; we’ll just have to settle for salsa this year.