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Fresh cut basil wilting
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Posted by aka_peggy Md6b (My Page) on Tue, Aug 8, 06 at 10:08
| I'm selling a few fresh herbs and veggies in front of my house. How can I display the basil and still keep it from wilting? I placed a couple of bunches out early this morning in lukewarm water and it's already wilting. My table is in shade and the temps are warm but not hot like it has been.
Thanx~ |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| Cold water has always worked well for me. Just keep it out of direct sun. We submitted a single bunch in water for a county fair and I observed it over the course of the 8 day event in a warm building. It still looked great at the end of the fair. So as long as the stem base is submerged and the leaves have air movement it should keep a long time. I tell all my customers to just stick it on their counter top with the base in water. |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| Thanks bmoser, I'll put it in cold water on the counter from now on. Funny how it doesn't like being refrigerated. Just one night in the fridge and the leaves start to turn black. |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| At a farmers' market we are forced to keep it displayed in order to sell it, hot days and cool days. We'll notice wilting fairly soon if a bunch lays out of the water on a hot day. I'll typically put 3-4" of water in the base of the container so that all bunches have the bases covered well. Misting lightly with cool water on a regular basis will help to offset the heat too. We use a previously unused garden sprayer and mist all of our veggies to keep them fresh and looking their best. But with basil you don't want a bunch to lay under the water for an extended time or the leaves turn dark as they do in the frig. The same condition occurs if basil is stuck in plastic bags and heated. I had to replace 40 lb of basil tips to a restaurant once because of that mistake... putting into plastic bags and transporting in a car trunk on a hot day. |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| We've had customers report that the basil they've bought from us has grown roots in a vase on their table. Should try this just to see but we tend to grow so much basil that it doesn't often make much sense to try to keep it very long. Our basil will wilt even with the stems in water on some days at the market. A little too chilly at night and we can lose it all in the garden without a single hint of frost. Let the sun touch it when it's in a plastic bag and it turns to black rot. And yet, if you dry some stems on top the compost pile, you could practically use it for rope. Really, quite an odd plant. I think that cut flowers, herbs, and greens wilting in outdoor markets are the very best arguments for short marketing hours. Often, there are some vendors and managers who don't appreciate that thinking. Peggy, you might try rotating out of a cooler – every hour, fresh bunches. Steve |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| Bmoser & Steve, you've confirmed what I just learned the hard way. Basil is a very tempermental herb, either you have a lot of it or you have none! I'll try rotating it and misting it. Thanx~ |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| I transplant my basil from the field into 3gal pails and take live plants to market. I sell pick your own or sell the whloe plant pail and all. The smell realy brings folks into my stand. |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| Reagantrooper, do you actually dig it up? If so I might have to try that this fall so I can prolong my harvest. |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| Bumping another oldie :) I've been contemplating that very thing, taking a potted basil or two to market for point of sale picking--it gets SO hot here in TX I can't think of another way to keep it fresh. Our market is very small and in the heat of the summer there is a very small selection of produce available until the fall gardens start coming on, it'd be nice to add some variety and I keep reading about how the smell draws people in. Does anyone else take potted herbs and sell clippings and how does it work for you? I've yet to see anyone selling herbs of any kind at our market, except the 'plant lady' (houseplants and landscaping, no veggies/herbs) offered rosemary twigs one week. So many fresh summer recipes call for basil I think I could sell it easily with recipes for other things... "You've got to try this zuke recipe, it's so good, oh and you'll need a handful of fresh basil for the recipe" What do you think, worth a try? |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| Is it better to soak the whole plant with roots or soak the bottom of a cutting?? |
RE: Fresh cut basil wilting
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| can you plant basil that you buy in the marker in a rooted container in a platic bag |
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