Meet the Producer: Utsalady Farm

At Utsalady Farm, sweet basil thrives year-round

Fresh local basil in January? It was too much to hope for until two young Camano Island farmers, Stewart Conway and Tim Rawls, decided to grow it in greenhouses at their Utsalady Farm. Basil—which thrives on heat—is a finicky crop to grow outdoors here, and it’s too delicate to travel long distances after harvest. These two factors made Conway and Rawls think it might be a good crop to grow indoors hydroponically (i.e., in a water and nutrient mix rather than in soil) and sell locally. They started a batch in the summer of 2000 to see how it progressed before tackling the winter months. All went well, and now they harvest 4,500 living plants a week (focusing on Italian sweet basil) year-round.

Hydroponic growing allows Conway and Rawls to harvest the plant with its roots attached, which makes it last much longer than cut basil. “We plant every day,” says Conway, and they harvest every other day. At the same time, their farming technique saves water by recirculating it constantly. (In traditional farming, when plants are watered, the water seeps into the soil, with much of it absorbed into the ground.) You can find their freshly harvested basil, with roots intact, year-round in the produce section at many local grocery stores, such as Top Foods, select QFC stores and Safeway (about $4­–$5/bunch). At home, put the basil in a glass of water and you’ll have a delicious bouquet for weeks.