A bottle of McCormick dried thyme leaves that I bought at the local Gristedes supermarket on 86th and First Avenue cost over $7.00 with tax. A smaller bottle of another McCormick variety, cost $6.00 but it was worthless powdered thyme.
In addition to not knowing who grew the thyme plants, where, how, when, and by whom it was processed, I also know that for little more than seven dollars worth of materials (and a lot of my labor to be sure), I could grow enough thyme in George's courtyard to supply all of this Yorkville neighborhood of the Upper East Side. I would not use chemical fertilizers nor pesticides nor genetically engineered seeds and would provide it fresh for six months or more of the year. People could dry their own if they wanted or I could provide naturally dried thyme during the months when fresh is not available.
I do see locally grown herbs in the Key Food store on Second Avenue and 92nd Street in the summer, so some people are working on this.
A hunt for seeds to plant in my milk jug "serres" has been very unsatisfying. In spite of all the Italian gardeners in my Carroll Gardens neighborhood, the places where I could swear there was seed for sale just a few years ago have none now. Barb and I were in a garden store in Soho a few years ago, but it must have closed; I can't find it. Calls to a number of places in this city (I refuse to even consider a big chain anywhere in the five boroughs it may exist) have revealed no seed for sale.
Organic seed is available online, so the carrots, lettuces and French beans will be grown from seed produced outside of the city, ordered online, and delivered to George's. Pity.
Does anyone know of a source of seed anywhere in New York?
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