Basil growing and how to sell and for how much???

[wes]

Hello all I need some help and advice. I have grown some basil in my system about 109 plants with room to add allot more and they are doing really well. I have given the basil to allot of friends and co-workers to use at home ect. I was at a farmers market the other day and a lady had an organic stand and was selling a couple of pieces of basil small, for a dollar a bag. I was shocked at the small size and amount for a dollar. I went home and looked at how much basil I have and said I can’t just let this go to seed and waste or just dry it all out. I need to sell some. So I printed up some business cards and hit some of the local Italian restaurants with some hefty samples of basil and my card. They were all blown away at the size and flavor and seemed very interested in purchasing some from me very soon. They wanted me to be competitive with the price of what they are paying for their basil right now. I don’t know what to charge and need some advice of what I have gotten myself into????

 

[TCLynx]

Orlando Home Grown co-op

Those are retail prices so to sell to a restaurant you will probably need to give them a wholesale price which will be less but if you are selling direct it should still be worth your while, at least while your supply lasts.

[wes]

TCLynx said:

I have two 4 by 7 beds with this basil growing in them. This pic was taken 2 weeks ago everything is bigger in size now.

Orlando Home Grown co-op

Those are retail prices so to sell to a restaurant you will probably need to give them a wholesale price which will be less but if you are selling direct it should still be worth your while, at least while your supply lasts.

[wes]

Humm I can get a booth at the farmers market for 25.00 for the day but what do you charge for basil there???, Thanks for the reply TCLynx.

[Rob Nash]

i tell them, "im not here to compete on price" ...mexico always wins the price war. you are selling quality and consistency.

we sell our basil with stem for $10.00 / lb to the restaurants. and only $5.00 to the wholesalers. we do bunches to a retail store in town for $1.50 / bunch that they sell for $2.50. (its usually two or three heads, with stem)

It looks like you are ready to start adding iron and mag.

 

[Two Jay]

A local restaurant, in Grand Rapids MI, offered to pay me 8.00 / lb for in and out of season basil.

[wes]

Wow thanks you guys for the info that is just what I am trying to figure out. As for the iron and mag I have the iron. I usually put some in each month hydrated lime and some iron but maybe its not enough. I know I need more fish  only have about 25 taplia in my tank right now.

[TCLynx]

What is your pH?  The Iron deficiency is most common as the pH gets higher.

 

[wes]

Right now TCLynx it is at 6.6 and it seems to go down to about 6.0 close to the end of the month so each month I put in the Hydrated lime to bring it back up.

[TCLynx]

ok, you might think about alternating the hydrated lime with Potassium Hydroxide or Potassium bicarbonate so that you get some potassium supplement as well as the calcium.

 

And If you are regularly adding Iron, perhaps you might need some other element like Magnesium (epsom salts) like some one mentioned and see if that takes care of the yellowing.  

[wes]

Thanks TCLynx I have all the above and will do, the only one I havent been using is the Epsom salts. Do you have a good rule of thumb of how much to use of the epsom salts????

[Rob Nash]

if you add it weekly you can use less. i add very little epsom salt - like a cup and 1/2 per 1000 gallons. and for iron, i use Sprint 330 - 10% chelated powder, and only add 4-6 tbs. / week

 

i too would like to hear some suggestions on dosage.

[wes]

Super thanks Rob that is just the info I needed for the salt and iron.