I have planted this year about thirty basil plants. Most were "large leaf", but I tried some 'lettuce leaf', which did make leaves about 50% larger. Normally I can sell between 5-10 bunches/week, most to retail customers at the market, and to one restaurant I deliver to, along with other herbs. I allow the plants to grow about 12-18", and just at flower bud formation, I cut back the entire plant to about 4-6" high. I sell a 'bunch' which is about 12" in diameter, and usually one plant makes 1-2 bunches.

I see some people selling leaves or top-clippings of the uppermost 3-4 inches, but have found that a hard cutting back stimulates quick regrowth of healthier leaves, and a large bouquet-like form which is attractive to the customer and sells well for me. Some of my customers promptly de-stem a portion for pesto-making, dry some out for later, and the rest they are able to maintain fresh for 2 weeks in a vase as you would cut flowers. Do not refrigerate basil, it tends to be damaged by cold and gets brown.

I have sold larger quantities in the past for $6/lb, and have heard of prices up to $18(CDN)/lb for winter greenhouse grown basil.

I have had some succcess in the past selling the different scented basils- Holy basil, cinnamon basil, lemon basil, etc., but not recently. There coud be a market for prepared pesto sauce. For my own use I package it in the smallest 2x2" ziplock bags and freeze them. They thaw in 10 seconds in a microwave.

Hope this helps, I'd like to hear what others do, and read your paper. When you complete it, please return to post it!

I'm a commercial basil grower selling 80-110# of basil a week. E-mail me at adriana@chefsgreens.com and I'll hel p you out.

Jay how do you get the pesto into those tiny bags?

I use a table spoon, but understand your question because you must be careful to keep things neat and the oily pesto can make a mess. If I were to do more, a pastry bag or similar squirter would be good.

if you want to go big-time, consider heat sealed bags.

Jay and Adriana

I always found that the easiest way to freeze pesto was to drop it into ice cube trays, allow it to freeze, and then pop out the cubes and place into a plastic bag for further storage.

My two cents :)

I'm still looking for a good way to keep pesto from going black . Coering the surface with oil helps a little bit until you disturb it. I have tried citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin c) and lemon juice, with no luck.

Anyone up to date on Texas licenses for selling herbs and tomatoes, I would appreciate your experiences. thanks bill

Billtex, I sent an email to the Texas Department of Agriculture to try and clarify that same thing. See my post in the Vegetable Growers Handbook thread. Fees sound a little high to me. I hope I'm misunderstanding the fee structure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Licence fees Texas

You can help keep pesto looking green by adding a few tablespoons of parsley to the recipe. It won't affect the taste, but it will add a permanent green tinge, which sort of covers up the browning basil. It works for me on a small scale -- I can't see why it would be any different in larger batches.

Snappybob tks. their site is confusing, to me. tks. billtex