chocolate basil - does anyone have a source?

I just trimmed my basil plant and put the extra in water. They sure rooted quickly! I was kind of surprised that my marjoram also rooted in water. I knew it rooted if covered with dirt, but I was unsure whether it would in water. I haven't checked yet to see if my mint has rooted.

Did anyone find chocolate basil yet?

Well nuts, I was hoping somebody had bumped up this thread because they found it, grew it, loved it, and had dozens of rooted cuttings LOL.

hey guys, Ozark is in my neck of the woods. Will start looking tomorrow. There are several nurseries around.
Vickie

Well now.. if cando can't who can?

You go cando.. we're counting on you!!

Well if anyone finds some let me know.......... I would love to try this one.

James

We have been looking for a while now. It seems to have disappeared.

Yeah I know thats terrible I would love to try some.

Maybe if we keep looking . . ..

I've called 2 nurseries and posted on another website. One nursery had'nt heard of Chocolate basil. My nursery,s owner is gone today but will be back tomorrow. No answer to my post yet. Will look up a couple near by nurserys this afternoon. Keep your fingers cossed.
Vickie

It was supposed to be in the Arkansas area.

Good luck cando! *crosses fingers*

Yes good luck is right...LOL

Well so far nothing. Called more local nurserys. No luck.

I went on a google spree this afternoon and found all kinds of goodies but alas no chocolate basil. I have by no means given up. It is amazing what one comes up with when one googles chocolate basil and various countrys such as Australia,Mexico or India. I was like a child in a candy store for hours.

Some things i learned that i had to share.......Nutrition highlights for basil are...5 leaves equel .675 calories, .064g protein, .108g carbs, ,015g fat, .098g fiber. A must know for trivia buffs.
There is a mens cologne made from basil leaves called Basil(of course)LOL sells for$20.00 an ounce.
There is a "Hairy Bikers Cookbook" with Mexican chocolate and basil receipes written by bikers while travelling thru Mexico.
Basil was first grown in India. There are now about 50 species.Naturally un-named on site.!!! Basil spread thru the mediterrainian area by the spice trade routes. The Greek word for basil means royal or kingly. Only the king could harvest basil and by means of a golden sickle.
In Romania, basil took a romantic turn. If a man accepts a sprig of basil from a woman,they are officially ingaged.Watch it guys!!!! LOL
I can hear everyone saying " what have we set loose" W-e-l-l Whoever of you writes this, needs some facts about basil Right??? Also there are somethings i find, just beg to be shared.

Will do more phone calling tomorrow. Oh and i e-mailed some herbal seed catalog sites. I think this is their slow time and may not check mail now.
Vickie

OK, here's a thought.
Baldor Specialty Foods, 155 Food Center Drive, Bronx, New York http://www.baldorfood.com/Herbs-Fresh-all-607-cat.htm#products says:
[Baldor stocks a complete catalogue of fresh herbs on a regular basis, and special orders some (such as lemon verbena or chocolate basil) with advance notice.]
So, who lives in the Bronx and wants to place a "special order", root up a bunch of the cuttings, grow it out to seeds and share?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E3DD1030F93BA15755C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

There is a market which NY chefs favor.

Too bad I can't import live plants from the US :'(

Good googling! LOL @ the Hairy Biker's Cookbook.

Now, who do we know in the Bronx...

LOL - when I glanced at the message above, I read the link as "bald-OR-food.com." Sent my brain buzzing for a moment!

Potagere,

If I'd only known that in the beginning of September!!

I know my way around 4 of the Boroughs of NY, Suffolk & Nassau Counties.

I had the Van, gas $$$ & I'd have drove down there & back with fury!!

I was NY State till September 15th.

Oh, I'm so sad now :0(

Let me go & ask a friend who still lives in Brooklyn.

Keeping my fingers crossed....

~* Robin

Been a busy day for me, Not much time for chocolate basil. Called 2 nurserys in Ark and 2 in Texas.No CB.
On line i did come across the origial NYTimes article written June 28, 2000 by Matt and Ted Lee . who bought chocolate basil from Union Square Greenmarket.They planted them in a Harlem comunity garden. They made the statement that "cinnamon,clove and chocolate basils had fleeting tastes and needed to be eaten fresh." They talked to a Ms Boyle, horticulture director of NY Botanical Garden in the Bronyx.

These places were mentioned in the article as selling herbs at the greenmarket. Oak Grove Plantation, Gilberties,West Port, Conn.PH 203-227-4175 . Chelsea Gardens with 3 Manhatten locations and will special order flats. Long Island,Peconic River Herb Farm.There you can pick your own basil. This was in 2000.

I found a parallel search for CB at the other garden site in 2006 and 07 also recently revived. Should i try to link it? It's much the same as ours but theirs was bought at the Botanical gardens in ST, Louis which brings it back to Central US. The plot thickens....again.
Vickie

Sure add the link. This thread is picked up by Google if anyone is looking for chocolate basil, so it is an advantage to have all the information here.

I think someone above had contacted the St Louis Botanical Garden. Chocolate basil was on their list for their spring sale - but then they didn't come through with it.

Thanks for your research, Vickie.

I have had this plant several years ago. I had no idea how rare it was. I think I got mine at Home Depot in Tuscaloosa. They don't have any ideas about where it came from now.

I called my nursery today and he had'nt heard of chocolate basil.Called another nearby nursery. They were'nt sure if they'd heard of it. I zeroed in on the Union Station Greenmarket.(Where the first plants were mentioned) They have been active there for 30 yrs and are so today but will close after Christmas for a couple of months. I wished i could wisk myself off to 14th and Broadway in Manhatten to look and buy. Pumpkins,apples,cranberrys,wines,fish, lamb, cheeses and real wool yarn. All from farms in Jersey and nearby states. One, Stokes farm has been there since they started the market. I e-mailed the farm asking for info on CB. Maybe i'll hear from them this weekend. Nothing from e-mails i sent yesterday.
Picked up a tidbit of info on Jeruselem(SP) artichokes. They are a good source of inulen.a soluable fiber and natural sugar considered medicinal for diabetics. Have to look into that one before i try it.
Also have to see about that real wool yarn. The biggest thing i received from this search today is a deep yearning to go to rural NY.
Vickie

cando: good luck on your emails. I didn't get any anwers.

I found a table that lists sources of inulin: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/129/7/1407S/T1

bananas wheat garlic onions. The jerusalem artichokes a finishing blooming here along the roadsides.

I bet rural NY is beautiful about now - just before winter moves in.

A friend of mine has purchased it at the markets in Manhattan. I'l have to have him look next year.

Ray! A sighting! Hello, Mrs. Ed!

hi! Well it was not this year. He saw it previously. I asked him about it last spring.

The article above says that's where it was. Its a market that is frequented by the NY chefs.

Mrs. Ed, Glad you posted.
Gloria, Thanks for the link. And artichokes grow wild in Miss.
Maybe they're not hard to grow.
I've got feelers out for CB everywhere. Am getting answers,only problem they're negative. I've two people checking people they know have had it. Keep those fingers crossed. Have started going thru seed and plant catalogs looking for CB. Will include a foreign search. I don't guess anyone knows Chocolate Basil in french,german,italian,spanish,or turkish.
The farm (STOKES) that goes to Union station market said they did'nt remember CB.

The only positive they have'nt heard of it answers are from companys that don't have it.LOL! I know ,a feeble attempt at a joke.
the other search is linked here.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/sources/msg0516055331829.html?11

I live in rural NY and it is spectacular here. However, the "s" word is predicted this week (it won't stick around long) and nights have been in the low 20s. Growing season is over for me! I emailed Baldor's to see if they had CB, haven't heard back. Funny, a few years ago, several of us upstate farmers were invited down to Baldor's and Balducci's to see if we would be interested in growing for them.

Herbalbetty - wouldn't that be something to grow a field full of chocolate basil?

I noticed in the GW link, someone there had also bought some from Home Depot. I think that's where I got mine several years ago. Who would think it would disappear.

Yes. Several people have said, oh you really mean chocolate mint.

Nope. I mean chocolate basil! As I remember this was not a chocolate colored plant, just a green plant with some light brown markings on the stem. And it smelled like basil-cocoa.

I guess you could shave some real chocolate into some basil leaves if you got desperate.

This message was edited Oct 20, 2008 8:01 AM

It's so funny how this thread keeps getting resurrected. Lots of hope, but the same results. I'd love to find someone that actually KNOWS. "This plant was a poor performer so we don't carry it anymore" etc.

Every time I read this thread I do another web search with the same results. Chocolate and basil and chocolate mint. There were a couple of promising hits but when I went to the actual website got the dreaded "there are no results matching your search criteria. **sigh**

I know someone who is just starting up a greenhouse. I think I will get her to keep her eyes open for any leads. Hopefully she will run across something.

Have been busy with family the last couple of days and have'nt been doing much searching but i do have a phone number of someone who has supposedly grown this before. and i'll call her tomorrow.

So keep your fingers crossed. It is either out there or it is not. We deserve to know. Reckon the FBI would like to know? LOL
Vickie

The FBI already knows. That's why we can't find it. They have been keeping it all to themselves since their big raid on Home Depot!

The FBI may know about it, but I don't think they grow it.

Why not? It's not on the "illegal substances" list is it?
Or are you FBI and hiding something from us?

Not me! But I have met some of those FBI and they are not gardeners! They have a lot of other things on their mind. The little grey men.