Basil Blight = Minneapolis Farmers Market News
Basil Blight 2018
This summer my trips to the Farmers Market in Minneapolis I searched for herbs to dry. Each time I’d peruse some of the usual herb growers there was no Basil to be had anywhere. (Huh?) Usually there is lots of basil. When I stopped by Dehn’s gardens who specialize in fresh herbs, I asked about the lack of basil mentioning that no one had the herb this year. The young woman seemed irritated, when she said they didn’t have any. When I asked why no one seemed to have any, she grudgingly answered, “There’s a blight.” I felt uncomfortable and didn’t pursue the conversation.
Here’s the answer from The University if Minnesota’s website: Yard and Garden News
M. Grabowski, UMN Extension: “Warm summer days are typically a great time for making pesto and caprese salad. This year many gardeners, disappointed by basil plants with yellowing leaves with dark blotches, are wondering what went wrong. The answer is a plant disease called basil downy mildew.
First found in Minnesota in 2012, downy mildew is a devastating disease of basil, resulting in infection and complete loss of the plant.” Retrieved September 9, 2018.
The article describes the blight as ‘Basil downy mildew which is caused by Peronospora belbahrii’. Since Minnesota has has a wet and very humid summer the mildew has thrived. The mildew thrives in this humid environment. They have pictures and management instructions. See the link above to the article for more information, please.
Yesterday, I found some Thai Basil at the market from some of the Hmong growers. There were only a few bunches and I too k two as the were small. I asked the woman grower about the basil blight and she said these were from her greenhouse. “They are from my greenhouse.” she repeated with a very earnest look on her face. But there were some leaves on the basil that had blight. Task for today is to get the good leaves off and bury the blighted leaves in the ground so spores won’t spread and the winter cold will kill them.
So the mystery of the Basil Blight is solved. For the rest of the crops the market produce looks fabulous. I bought pickling cucumbers to make pickles again. I just make a small batch. Better get to it.
Thanks for stopping by my kitchen.
Have a pleasant day wherever you may be.
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Lyndale Farmers’ Market © Ckatt 2018
Kunstkitchen's Blog 
love the autumn produce photos! sad about the basil blight, never heard of it before, i would have thought they could ship it in. we have bunches at our grocers in Arizona so I guess it hasn’t spread this far or the heat kills it
This is a Minnesota problem, but it could be elsewhere in the north.
Your photos are wonderful. the colors and the different textures are so clear. Interesting about the basil. I don’t grow herbs but this summer my garden has behaved very differently with the unusually hot weather and high humidity. Some things have been amazing with lush growth and abundant flowering and others have wilted and despite watering and feeding have not done so well.
All signs say that our summers are changing and winters will be colder. Experts agree. Thanks for commenting!
I really like your blog, by the way. I am learning so much about horses.
Thanks for the tip. The good news is that I’ve had an unusually good basil crop this summer. The bad news ….oh well.
RONALD WALKER RonaldEWalker@aol.com 510-521-5741
Well the basil I bought was blighted. O well.