We sell our basil bundled and stored in water as you would a bouquet. The cut basil stems go into the water as soon as possible after harvesting. It seems to help but would be interested in other people's methods.

I used to sell mine in bouquets in cups of water. But now I sell most of mine in small sandwich bags (the type that fold over). They keep as good and I don't have to tote cups of water. I do take a few in bouquets to set on the table to get peoples attention but don't sell as many of them.
gl

Thanks to you both! GarlicLady, do you take the leaves off the stems? And you just put the basil in the baggie? Water or a damp paper towel is not necessary?

BTW, this past Saturday we went to our very first farmer's market as a vendor, and we had a great time. We have learned a lot lurking around this forum. We sold almost all of our tomatoes and veggies, but very little basil. We have 6 varieties, and all held up fairly well displayed in bouquets as gponder suggested. All but the lemon basil...it seems to be very tender. I'll try the baggies this week!

We sell lots of fresh basil at market; it's one of our best money makers. We sell 2 oz bags, quarter pounds, half pounds & full pounds. The 2 oz bages are in sandwhich zip locks & the quarter lb. bags are in twist tie type baggies. EAch bag has a paper towel in it (or a quarter towel for a small bag) to absorb any excess moisture. You don't want the basil to be bagged wet. The paper towel will capture water to prevent rotting, but help keep the humidity up at the same time

We cut it early in the morning. If it's dirty, it's rinsed in WARM water then placed in plasic (mesh like) crates to dry. We remove any big fat stems & bag it. It goes into a pre-cooled cooler that has a thick layer of towels over the ice packs. If you must use a refrigerator, wrap the bags in towels before putting them inside. Cold & wet will ruin the stuff - it turns black & slimy. Just enough cooling to slow down transpiration & wilting.

We take the coolers to market & sell from them. The most we've sold at a market is 21 lbs. & didn't meet the need.
Hope to this year!

Sue

I don't use coolers or paper towels and we have the same climate. I do keep it in the shade. I do not put stems only leaves and they are dry. I pick early morning or late evening and bag them asap. The baggies with the fold top let just enough air in and out that the leaves don't sweat. I have actually brought them home from Sat markets and left them air conditioning and they are still fresh for Wed market
To get us southerns to use basil you might give out recipe sheets with basil and your other vegies . People will buy if they know how to use it
GL

Thanks Sue and GL.

Wow Sue, you have to do a lot of work, but it sounds like it is worth it!

GL, I put three types of basil in a baggie yesterday. It is on the back porch, not in direct sunlight, but still subject to the humidity and heat. So far it look good!
Many thanks,
Patty

Some of our market vendors are just starting to sell basil. Today I saw an interesting display. While everyone elses basil, propped up in water, looked absolutely dismal in the 90+ degree temp we had today, one of the vendors basil looked fresh and perky...the secret, they harvest, roots and all, bunch together and store in water. They direct seed the basil, thickly and harvest when the plants are very small, about 6-8" high. They sure were pretty but I can't imagine doing it that way. Each small bundle had about 10 plants in it. I think I will try Sue and Garlic Lady's idea of bagging. Thank your all for the information.

GarlicLady, your method definitely worked for us, we sold all but one bag of our basil yesterday! We didn't take a lot b/c we expected rain, and wanted to see how the basil would hold up. It worked great. It was easy for customers to reach in the basket and pick up a bag, and some folks picked up a recipe card for basil butter as well. (We love our butter in the south ;-) but I'll upgrade to a nice pesto recipe next week.)

Thanks again, Patty

What kind of prices are you folks charging for basil leaves??
gp

We get $2.50 for a 2 oz. bag, $5.00/quarter lb. $9.00/half pound & $15.00/ lb.

The quarter lb. bags are most popular.

We didn't weigh ours, but we sold the little sandwich bags that garliclady recommended (sandwich size with the fold over tops) for $1.00 a bag. That's not enough, and I am trying to think of ways to raise the price without driving customers away...After seeing Sue's post, I am thinking of offering larger bags, and eventually eliminate the smaller ones.