1 ounce for $3.00 equals $43.00/ lb. I'd say you are a little high. here are some basil prices at markets around the country:
http://newfarm.org/opxgr/product.php?prid=3

It looks like basil is going for $12.00/lb in Vermont, which equals $.75/oz. I sell rubber banded bunches rather than ounces, and forego the labor and packaging hassle. I keep most of it in a cooler but display it in a vase, and waft it around sometimes to attract customers from downwind by the smell, try it- it works!

Perhaps a $2.00-$3.00 bunch would sell better for you.
Pulling up plants versus cutting seems to me to be a way to get rid of your plants pretty fast, but I prefer to get at least 3-4 cuttings of one bunch each from each plant. I'd estimate it takes about 2-3 weeks for regrowth after cutting a plant down to about 6" high. Regrowth seems to go faster the larger the plant gets, after the second rattoon(cutting).

I also have about 100 plants, which take up 50 feet of bed space. I hope to get 400 bunches from this planting, which, alas for my cheap market, I will gain only $1.00/ bunch. About 25% will be harvested, but go unsold and returned after market. I should dry these, but usually compost them.

My basil sales have fallen off due to the hot weather. I sold small seedlings for $1 (4-5 inch tall plant) and bigger plants for $3 (big enough to harvest). I never moved a ton of them but then my market is complicated and I am new to it. Other things I offer I do the same thing you are doing where I sold it in every concievable way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I do believe in the power of the smell of basil. I take some every time I go to market even if I am mostly selling bedding plants, even if it is gonna be a scorching hot day and the basil will be limp in the heat - something about the sweet smell of basil will attract gardeners to my booth.

the going rate for basil at my market is $8/pound....or 50 cents an ounce. a lot of vendors have it. its very easy to grow. i never make any decent amount of money from it and have it to get the "what a great smell" reaction from customers. better they smell it than smelling me.
i've been using the same seed for the last 10 years or so!

You might consider drying, cleaning and bagging the dried basil and selling that for $3oz. I have done that in the past and it was a good seller and once the stuff is cleaned and packed it needs no further care other than a secure storage space.

people are more familier with dried basil and will buy it. Plus it makes a great off season product.

FYI: In some places you are required to have a permit for processing (inspection of premises, etc.) if you dry herbs and sell them...Ann

I was just going to ask a Basil Question -- If I want to sell it dried, how do you package it? Is a zip-lock baggy good enough or do you have special packaging?

Here in my area, you have to get a permit to "process" any produce. I would like to be able to dry and make tea blends or culinary blends with not only my basils, but many other herbs. But, not without that permit. Free Interprise just seems to no longer exist. Such a shame.
I cut bunches of fresh basil, tie it with rubber bands and sell them for $2 a bundle. I keep them in an ice chest in a large open zip-loc bag, and put an assorted "bouquet" of various basils in jelly jars on my sales table. Of the five varieties I am growing this year, the Lemon Basil seems to be selling the best. It is good for just about everything: teas, pestos, salads, seasonings, salt-substitute, herb vinegars, & etc.
I also sell sage, mint and dill this way. Makes a very fragrant diplay and people stop to talk.
I also print out recipes for using basil that I give to anyone who buys my herbs (and tomatoes or veggies which may be listed in the recipe, too). Many times, customers just don't know how to use fresh herbs, so the recipes really help.
Hope this helps.

Annie

http://agriculture.nh.gov/rules/index.htm

You might want to spring for a subsription to the market bulletin. It's available online.

NH doesn't have a lot of rules that apply to small operations but they do enforce the ones they have. Weights and measures dept is particularly active this time of year.

I remember my they even inspected my 89 year old mother in law once. She sold a few veggies outside her home. They did have a heart and didn't nail her the license fee. Looked around her garden and gave her one. Some bonehead must have complained about the old gal. She did have a scale that was checked and certified each time.

Most places might measure out the herbs and weigh them to get them packaged uniformly but then just call the price by the baggie rather than saying it's so many ounces.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dept of AG NH rules and laws

Hi everyone,

IÂm doing some research for my non-profit organization here in upstate NY and I was wondering if you could help me with a few things?

I want to know how much Basil I can realistically produce per square foot?

We are planning on building a greenhouse and would like to ultimately know how much Basil (but weÂre also looking at other items too) we can realistically grow in a square foot space on an annual basis using season extending techniques with a greenhouse.

Also, using a greenhouse in zone 5 how many harvest sessions are there for Basil? Being that its an annual can I only sow/harvest one plant per year depending on my harvesting method?

If anyone can help with this IÂd really appreciate it!!!

I also have to figure out the same exact issue for Chives, Dill and Tarragon.

Thanks
Brett

Brett, the answer to your question may be in some publication on crop yield expectations somewhere, but basil is not a consistant producer.Its like many other herbal crops in that the conditions need to be optimal in order to achieve an optimum regular weekly foliage harvest. Variables in weather can easily turn the tables and make you a crop of "tips/leaves" that aren't worth harvesting. I've tried season extension with basil for years and I find the crop won't start even indoors until the weather warms. Try the Nufar basil variety if you want less disease problems in a early crop.

We've not had frost yet although it has been real close. The irony of it all is that my outside basil is not dead yet and seems to handle the rain and drizzle we've had all week. I have only tomatoes and cucumbers growing now in two tunnels but as I was picking tomatoes last night and water was dripping like rain off the interior of the plastic, I was thinking how the basil crop would be ruined if I would have one planted there. It just needs to dry out on a regular basis to avoid problems.

I've typically seed planted 6 rows of basil 6" apart and set 2 drip tape lines to water. Almost every year I've tried to harvest an early crop of tips but I usually end up replanting 2-3 times and then only gaining 2-3 weeks on the outside crop. I would suggest two things that I will try in coming year: 1. Keep it thinned so that the soil will be dry most of the time at the base of the plants and 2. Ventilate with circulation fans to have good air movement around plants. Naturally you want all other vegetation(weeds) removed.

Now to attemt to answer your question. Assuming that you can harvest weekly from june 1 thru Oct.(22 wks)and you might expect 5 lb.(1 bu.packed) tips from 12 ft of row(~3'wide). That would translate to about 3 lb. per sq. ft. for the season. It seems like less than what you might expect outside on a good year but its my best guess.

bmoser,

thanks for your information it was very valuable and it supports my findings that i've only read about. many sources gave bits and pieces of information from backyard gardening to seed packets, you name it but in the end i concluded pretty much what you've said and b/ it sounds like your somewhere in the the Northeast (talking about this rain and all) it makes me feel more comfortable. b/ that was the other thing, much of the information i was reading was from other parts of the country. i tried Cornell Extension, even Cornell University but my phone calls were never returned... anyway thank you sooo much for your information...

Brett, you need to look in Canada. I had a grower show up at market in Arkansas who was doing greenhouse basil in Canada, and she told me they subsidize the industry especially for heating. For winter basil that far north, expect to need some extra lights, look at the new big-bulb systems. This sounds like an expensive product for cold climates but maybe it could sell high too. Take it slow and whatever you do try and get accurate info from someone who has already been through the learning curve, don't try and reinvent the wheel growing a summertime crop during an upstate NY winter.

Best of luck,
Jay

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At my market, Dubuque Iowa. I sell basil bunches for $1 each, actually all herbs are a buck. I am considering $1.50 for next year.
While I enjoy growing and yes the smell of harvesting herbs. I feel that while I may sell a lot of cilantro, other herbs are on my table just for the smell. Customers don't get that aromatic experience when they shop at Wal-Mart, piggly wiggly and Aldi's.
As for growing basil. I start mine in flats mid April in the GH. But I am so busy planting and transplanting the "money makers" that Basil is on the bottom of list of things to plant. A few years ago I transplanted it early, it froze. So now I don't get excited and transplanting until about June 8th. Within 2 weeks I am cutting bunches.

(basil, like field corn, and all plants, need a certain about of foot candles for photosynthesis, and energy to grow. ie a lot of sunshine and heat)

This year I changed my harvest procedures, and my basil no longer looks "sad" by 10:30 on sat.
First, I harvest herbs on Friday (I harvest veggies on Thurs. and they go into the walk in cooler)
Next, I cut and band bunches and place them into a large Rubbermaid tub. I find that tall sides of a tub keeps the wind off the cuttings. Then I take my tub back to the packing shed and sort. I only put 1/2" of water to the buckets
I found some new galvanized tin "calf buckets" at the local farm store, $5. I feel they have the height to keep the wind of the basil bunches at market. In addition they look a lot better than ice cream pails.
Also I never, never put food crops on the ground at market, if you don't have enough room on the tables, find wood benches or something. If its on the ground it will stay on the ground. Our market has a rule that food crops need to be at least 2' of the ground.
When I return home after market my mom gets her chance to dry some bunches. But I put most unsold bunches in the compost pile right away. We also do a kitchen test. we put a bunch in a coffee cup and see how many days before it goes bad. You need to be able to tell your customers this information.

Kristi

This was my first season at market, a brand new market where I am also manager. The herbs I brought - cilantro, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, sage - did not sell. Basil sold a little (medium sized bunches at $2). My biggest problem was keeping it from wilting. I picked it only hours earlier, kept it in water throughout, but it seemed to wilt at the drop of a hat. Had a similar problem with kale, although kale was in plastic bags, not in water. Any advice?

My suggestion, Sundacks, would be to keep the larger quantity of basil in the shade. I'm moving 100+ bunches at one market but I only put 20-30 in a tub on the table at one time. I only wish I had a few hundred more bunches for the late pesto makers this season. I only charge $1.25 a bunch but having basil (and cilantro) next to my tomatoes creates an atmosphere unlike any store can offer. I feel sad that my customers won't get my basil if they arrive late but I won't raise the price either. Selling it quickly means that it never has a chance to wilt.

I will admit that I usually cut flavored basils to complement sweet basil. The Thai basil either sells out first or last, purple basil sells after sweet basil is gone. I sometimes bring a few bunches of lemon basil home. Lemon or lime basils seem to wilt quicker so misting is sometimes helpful. I only wish sweet basil would regrow as quickly as the flavored basils. I think I can cut the same lemon basil (Mrs. Burns) plants every week. By the second week many stalks are shooting buds.

I'm sorry that this post sounds too much like bragging. My hope is that some of you can glean a few good ideas on marketing basil. I have an advantage of selling it in a college town.

Gettig back to the original post: Why not seed a bunch of 48 cell flats and just offer basil plants outright to your customers. I offered small plants in the summer and they soldout very quickly. For diversity offer 6packs of various basils. That was our hottest seller of all 6packs a few years ago when we took the time to do it: The "Pesto 6-pack". No reason why you couldn't also offer other herbs: "Medicinal 6-pack", "Tea 6-pack", "Aroma 6-pack", etc. Use your imagination.

Guys...what is considered a "bunch"? Is it say ten stems?
or 8? Just curious...
I cut the last of my basil this week for drying. This was only 10 stems which, if it were flowers, it would be a nice big bouquet.

It sometimes helps sales if you have handouts of recipes
for the items you want to push. Of course the simpler the recipe the better.

If I were to count stems I'd probably have more in the range of 15-20 in a bunch. I try to have the combined stems about an inch in diameter where I place the band but that even varies as the crop progresses, peaks, and then drops in production. Some people change the price per bunch throughout the season. I change the size of the bunch and keep the price the same.

Good info here! My basil bunches might sound expensive, but the local grocery stores sell tiny packs of non-organic wilted basil for $2, so I think a good sized bunch of fresh, organic basil at $2 is reasonable. Also, in our climate basil is a fleeting item.
Seems like windiness is the main culprit in the wilting of vegetables. We have a very windy site next to a lake. Maybe we can put up a windbreak next year.

Last year I sowed 8 kinds of basil, transplanted the seedlings into styrofoam drinking cups and sold them for $2 a plant.

This year I tried raising my price since everything has gone up but lowering my price now may not be an option since I've discovered whitefly oh no! on my basils. They are now in quaratine and I may have to call that a crop failure for this year.
Growing Basil has not any major production for me. Our market here is small and several others sell plants and herbs as well. Plus some of them have the advantage of having a greenhouse and I don't. I grow stuff vertically on shelves under lights in my sunroom.

One year I compiled a cookbooklet on Basil and sold those as well. It does help to give people recipes and the like. Education is part of our function at market.

This just has not been a good year for basil for me. Temps have been pretty cool and basil does not like it below 50F. In attempting to harden off a tray of mostly Lemon and Lime basils [my favorites] they ended up too sad looking to take to market. Now whitefly is attacking my best ones and I am despondent. [sigh] I got a package of purple ruffles later than the rest of my plantings since my dark opal just did not germinate well. I was hoping to make some nice mixed basil pots but now I fear the window for plant buying may be past as we are heading into summer.

Rather than selling the basil fresh or dried. I was considering a processed product.........pesto. Pesto is largely basil, though the other ingredients maybe cost prohibitive.

Hello everyone.

I planted basil in my yard few years ago and now I am over flooded with basil. I live in Staten Island, NY. Does anyone know where one can sell basil?

You've never had a frost in Staten Island in a few years, even though you are in Zone 6B? Amazing! IME, basil is not a hardy plant - I don't need a killing frost to hurt it, just a light one.

Mike

Basil will die if it gets below 40, she must have the basil near a warm place. Near my mother's house, she gets her flowers going 2-4 weeks before anyone else (zone 5), but that also says that she needs better insulation.

If you don't want to sell at a farmers market, check with small retailers (unless rules prevents that) or neighbors/friends. Post a note on nearby bulletin boards stating you have extra basil.

Marla

I was told to put basil in my veggie garden to keep bugs away and it sure seems to work. For three years now I've planted basil and have had no bugs on my tomatoes, squash, melons.etc. But I personally can not stand the smell of basil and I don't like the taste. But when I harvest I take it to our local Italian Restaurant and get free Italian food in exchange. They love getting fresh Basil and I love getting delicious Italian dishes. WIN WIN!! Someone mentioned Whitefly. Now I've got to do some research on what that is.

What's your favorite organic sweet Italian basil?

I think it would be great if market farmers embraced the uniqueness of basil... I mean you can buy basil fairly cheap at the grocery store. However it's just that, basil.
Why not make it be more of a specialty item. Offer a sweet basil, a dwarf pungent basil, and a scented basil. Let customers taste the different varieties.
I think you would be able to get more money if your basil stands out. Let people who love Italian gravitate to sweet basil, South Asian flavor, holy basil or cinnamon basil...
Foodies respond to unique flavors, and are willing to pay a premium.

Here is a link that might be useful: variety basil suggestions

I sell both plants($3-3"pot) and fresh cut($2- 1oz bunch),sweet,cinnamon,lemon and lime basil. There are some good recipes on the web for basil cookies,fish, chicken, pork and salads. Print off the recipes and give w/the sold basil.
Deb

$2.50 an Oz. From calling stores Winston Salem NC July2014, my Friend said make it/ Ice-cube Freeze it.. sell for 2.50 each. Let's Hope he'll buy it all like he said. Haven't told him it's Organic. Pesticide free due to
Diatomacious Earth.