Hi Curtis, I lived in Rome for a few years and it was common practice to hand out a bunch of herbs like basil, couple stalks of celery etc. free to a client when they buy, as an incentive to keep them coming back. It really worked. Love your channel, even if I am a painter, but I apply some of your ideas to my business, believe it not. Best
I finally gave up on basil last year but you just showed me what I was doing wrong all this time (picking leaves and not pinching). Back to basil! I mostly use it on sliced tomatoes with some type of salty cheese, cracked pepper and olive or safflower oil.
I'm glad to see your not the only one who fumbles with your words during video's. The more I do the better I get at taking pauses for editing. Great Job as always, keep it up.
Thank you so much - we are not growing for sale, but for ourselves. Your advice/videos have been more helpful and to the point than the ton of books and other gardening shows we have read/watched over the years. Your advice has improved our yield x3 just this year from years past (we really do not weight/measure - but in sense of what we can eat/store/give away). It has also improved the connectedness (a word?) of our neighborhood. We have met all our neighbors this past year (opposed to the 2 or 3 we knew in the 10 years being here!) as we are now the local "convenience store" for that forgotten tomato/cucumber or not enough basil/oregano. We do not accept money, but our cat always has sitters, our yard/home is always watched and plants are watered/monitored when we are away. Thanks again!
Thanks, Curtis! This is useful for home gardeners too. I've got about 30 basil plants in pots in the garden. They're right at the state you're describing, so I'm going to top them and see how they branch. Time for pesto!
I just posted a video on topping my basil plants. They came in a rooted bunch at the supermarket for 3.99, and now they look great. Yours looks fantastic!
how do you pack your basil for sale ? the leaves tend to turn black quickly when stored in the fridge... do you advise customers on how to store basil (and other vegies..)? come to think of it... I think it would be great if you could do a video with details on how you store each vegetable, how much time they could be stored in (or out of) the cold room before sale, and how you pack and store them before sale..
I actually arrived at this video looking for some better tips on post harvest handling of basil, prior to becoming a grower I was a professional chef for years, so mainly I have applied what I saw in terms of how my suppliers would package and ship basil when I ordered, and the little bit I've read over the years, Basil does not like temps much below 45 degrees, when its growing or after its been harvested, and once its been cut from its roots it looses moisture rapidly, to address the moisture loss its important to maintain a humid but not wet environment around it, and to ensure the basil has as much water in it as possible prior to harvesting, so i'll normally make sure its been watered well the day before I harvest, which gives it time to take up as much water as it wants while also letting the any surface moisture on leaves to dry off, and then as much as possible I try to harvest early in the morning the next day before it warms up and the basil starts loosing moisture to evaporation. While harvesting make sure I have a piece of shade cloth with me to cover my tote loosely to keep any direct sun off the harvested basil, and if i have a lot to harvest i will even spritz my harvest tote with water VERY LIGHTLY to help keep humidity up until I can get it into bags, and when I put it into bags I always place a folded dry paper towel in the bag on one side, I do this because when i used to purchase basil in restaurants it always came with a fiber pad (basically a paper towel) in the bag, I'm guessing this helps balance any moisture in the bag by absorbing any surface moisture while also maintaining humidity. I do not wash my basil because I don't have a greens wash/dry set up, if you have one i would treat basil similar to spring mix washing in deep water gently and drying as quickly and gently as possible. Then the bags get kept somewhere cool but not refrigerated, though tossing them in the fridge for 10 minutes to cool them from the field heat isn't a bad idea, just try to avoid the bags coming into direct contact with the cold surfaces of fridge and especially avoid direct contact with an ice pack or ice
This is a great video! I hadn't seen this one before and really didn't know I was missing out on how to harvest these. Learn something new every day from you Curtis. Thanks for doing this!!
Hi, Thanks for usefull tip I have some cinamon Basil which grew quite high so will cut it to the thrid node. By the way I also grow some greek basil which seems to be just bushy on its own and make compact plants.
I get so annoyed when people put thumbs down on your videos!!! If you don't like it, go away to another video!!! Hi Curtis! Big Fan! Can't wait to receive your book this week!! I don't know if you mention this in your book but, I would really appreciate a list of common crops grown through the year! Thanks for your videos!!!
Good video Curtis, I love the honesty in your videos, there's some things about the crops biology that you don't know and ain't really that bothered why, as long as it works. oh and what variety of basil do you grow, I recognise it but don't know the variety. We are growing thai basil, smaller leaves but nice flavour.
I appreciate that. My recipe for success in all of this has been to just focus on the things that are important and leave the rest. That basil is called Sweet Basil.
A little hint on storing basil... In the summer when it is growing faster than you can use it simply harvest, wash and stuff it tight in a zip lock bag and pop it in the freezer. In the off season when you want a bit of basil simply pull the compressed frozen basil out of the bag and, while still frozen slice off as much as you want. Then pop the rest back in the freezer. It's not as good as fresh basil for some purposes but for many it is just fine.
Thanks for the confirmation here in this video, we handle ours the same way. How do you handle those clippings from the tote? Have you been able to store them for a couple days without them wilting and turning to mush? We just secured an account to provide them with clippings like this a couple times a week and unsure how to handle them.
A few questions that others have asked that I am also wondering - how do you sell it in that form? And how do you store it? I pick it with a lot of stem and bring it to market with the base of the stem submerged in water which I sell in bunches, and I store in a room in our barn that is always less than 70 degrees F. This way seems a lot easier though.
It's good to keep things simple, perfect them, then move on to the next step. Keeping a small crop of basil is the best plan unless you start to get into secondary markets with value added products like pesto, chimichurri, and tomato sauces. Since they require so much hand work anyway you might try planting some of them under your tomatoes to see how they do. Once your other crops are out of the tunnels and your bottom branches are pruned, you have a good bit of open real estate in there.
With too much . I freeze mine for winter and it crumbles wonderful, for soups , stews , Italian dishes ! And keeps till I am ready to use it . Doesn’t turn brown stays green .
Genovese Basil is amazingly pungent, I would grow it just for the smell. A market owner told me he has trouble finding local fresh Basil here in SW Ontario, and that if someone were to start a greenhouse it should be mostly Basil. Our growing season is about 150 days, so a heated greenhouse can technically gain 215 days, which makes them more competitive. Unfortunately, most of our farmers markets close up for a few months, so buyers switch to mostly Mexican and some USA produce. Most of our Organic food comes from Mexico as well, the large buyers can't depend on our weather so typically they sign contracts in Mexico and the USA.
when I harvest mine it wilts to nothing in 2 hours at best. please how do you keep these herbs and greens solid for atleast a day or two till I can bring to the market
I know you utilize insect netting and I read your chapter on pest control (rotating sites etc.) but are there any new developments in your pest management?
You mentioned wanting to get a good leaf to stem ratio so does that mean that you put the small top/node bunches right in the bag like the one you showed at the end of the video? As a consumer I have to do a little work to get only leaves, but not paying as much for a heavier steam if it was 6 inches long? Also, how long does it take you to harvest the bed at this stage? 50 ft bed?
So when you say you're pinching the basil shoots, is that when you are harvesting it? Or are you just pinching it back and discarding it encouraging it to grow more? Sorry if it's a dumb question.
Curtis - off subject - I noticed the tomatoes behind you in the greenhouse just loaded with fruit - question I have is who does the pollinating - bees or do you do it by hand.
tomatoes self poinate - no need for insects... just a bit of wind or shaking... If you trellis the plants to a main wire, you can shake the wire along the rows, it should do the job...
All I did to make my basil to make it bigger is all I do is pick off the flower or little lower cutting off the basil leaves with the flowers... And it is exploding in size. Yes it was Pre-grown but I didn't start pruning until the flowers pop up.
I see in your answers that you are just bagging and putting the basil into the cooler. Do you have any problems with the leaves turning brown/black in 24-48 hours?
Quite labor intensive for a crop. Doesn't seem like it's worth it. Maybe doing value added stuff with it like making pesto. Good pestos are hard to find.
Hmm, maybe I have it wrong then. I'm, still learning. Which is why i watch your channel. Here's a question for you. What do you pay for the land you lease?
Try to find a good pizza place that finishes pizzas with fresh basil. My restaurant does and our demand is pretty steady. You might have better luck negotiating a good price with a boutique/foodie type place that places higher value in local produce than the lunch slice places, or simply take the commodity rate if it works for you.
Talk to us about packaging and storing before delivery ❤
Hi Curtis, I lived in Rome for a few years and it was common practice to hand out a bunch of herbs like basil, couple stalks of celery etc. free to a client when they buy, as an incentive to keep them coming back. It really worked. Love your channel, even if I am a painter, but I apply some of your ideas to my business, believe it not. Best
I finally gave up on basil last year but you just showed me what I was doing wrong all this time (picking leaves and not pinching). Back to basil! I mostly use it on sliced tomatoes with some type of salty cheese, cracked pepper and olive or safflower oil.
I'm glad to see your not the only one who fumbles with your words during video's. The more I do the better I get at taking pauses for editing. Great Job as always, keep it up.
Basil has grown very well for us the past couple of years. Growing for home use. Thank you for the tips.
Thank you so much - we are not growing for sale, but for ourselves. Your advice/videos have been more helpful and to the point than the ton of books and other gardening shows we have read/watched over the years. Your advice has improved our yield x3 just this year from years past (we really do not weight/measure - but in sense of what we can eat/store/give away). It has also improved the connectedness (a word?) of our neighborhood. We have met all our neighbors this past year (opposed to the 2 or 3 we knew in the 10 years being here!) as we are now the local "convenience store" for that forgotten tomato/cucumber or not enough basil/oregano. We do not accept money, but our cat always has sitters, our yard/home is always watched and plants are watered/monitored when we are away. Thanks again!
Curtis, Thanks for the tip...didn't know that and we usually end up picking off the flower heads as the season goes on.
Thanks, Curtis! This is useful for home gardeners too. I've got about 30 basil plants in pots in the garden. They're right at the state you're describing, so I'm going to top them and see how they branch. Time for pesto!
I just posted a video on topping my basil plants. They came in a rooted bunch at the supermarket for 3.99, and now they look great. Yours looks fantastic!
how do you pack your basil for sale ? the leaves tend to turn black quickly when stored in the fridge...
do you advise customers on how to store basil (and other vegies..)?
come to think of it... I think it would be great if you could do a video with details on how you store each vegetable, how much time they could be stored in (or out of) the cold room before sale, and how you pack and store them before sale..
just put it in a plastic bag and blow some air. The carbon dioxide will keep it fresh for a much longer period of time :)
unless you have Hepatitis or Tuberculosis. or if you're a slobberer.
I actually arrived at this video looking for some better tips on post harvest handling of basil, prior to becoming a grower I was a professional chef for years, so mainly I have applied what I saw in terms of how my suppliers would package and ship basil when I ordered, and the little bit I've read over the years, Basil does not like temps much below 45 degrees, when its growing or after its been harvested, and once its been cut from its roots it looses moisture rapidly, to address the moisture loss its important to maintain a humid but not wet environment around it, and to ensure the basil has as much water in it as possible prior to harvesting, so i'll normally make sure its been watered well the day before I harvest, which gives it time to take up as much water as it wants while also letting the any surface moisture on leaves to dry off, and then as much as possible I try to harvest early in the morning the next day before it warms up and the basil starts loosing moisture to evaporation. While harvesting make sure I have a piece of shade cloth with me to cover my tote loosely to keep any direct sun off the harvested basil, and if i have a lot to harvest i will even spritz my harvest tote with water VERY LIGHTLY to help keep humidity up until I can get it into bags, and when I put it into bags I always place a folded dry paper towel in the bag on one side, I do this because when i used to purchase basil in restaurants it always came with a fiber pad (basically a paper towel) in the bag, I'm guessing this helps balance any moisture in the bag by absorbing any surface moisture while also maintaining humidity. I do not wash my basil because I don't have a greens wash/dry set up, if you have one i would treat basil similar to spring mix washing in deep water gently and drying as quickly and gently as possible. Then the bags get kept somewhere cool but not refrigerated, though tossing them in the fridge for 10 minutes to cool them from the field heat isn't a bad idea, just try to avoid the bags coming into direct contact with the cold surfaces of fridge and especially avoid direct contact with an ice pack or ice
Thanks, again, Curtis! This is my first year growing basil. This was very helpful!
This is a great video! I hadn't seen this one before and really didn't know I was missing out on how to harvest these. Learn something new every day from you Curtis. Thanks for doing this!!
Hi, Thanks for usefull tip I have some cinamon Basil which grew quite high so will cut it to the thrid node. By the way I also grow some greek basil which seems to be just bushy on its own and make compact plants.
I get so annoyed when people put thumbs down on your videos!!! If you don't like it, go away to another video!!! Hi Curtis! Big Fan! Can't wait to receive your book this week!! I don't know if you mention this in your book but, I would really appreciate a list of common crops grown through the year! Thanks for your videos!!!
Thanks man. You'll get that in the book. I've also done videos on it.
Thank you so much for your videos!
Good video Curtis, I love the honesty in your videos, there's some things about the crops biology that you don't know and ain't really that bothered why, as long as it works. oh and what variety of basil do you grow, I recognise it but don't know the variety. We are growing thai basil, smaller leaves but nice flavour.
I appreciate that. My recipe for success in all of this has been to just focus on the things that are important and leave the rest.
That basil is called Sweet Basil.
A little hint on storing basil... In the summer when it is growing faster than you can use it simply harvest, wash and stuff it tight in a zip lock bag and pop it in the freezer. In the off season when you want a bit of basil simply pull the compressed frozen basil out of the bag and, while still frozen slice off as much as you want. Then pop the rest back in the freezer. It's not as good as fresh basil for some purposes but for many it is just fine.
Good stuff Curtis. Do you plant basil into the same 4 row, 6 inch center landscape fabrics as Salanova? Cheers!
I love this guy he's my sensei!!
Thanks for the confirmation here in this video, we handle ours the same way. How do you handle those clippings from the tote? Have you been able to store them for a couple days without them wilting and turning to mush? We just secured an account to provide them with clippings like this a couple times a week and unsure how to handle them.
A few questions that others have asked that I am also wondering - how do you sell it in that form? And how do you store it? I pick it with a lot of stem and bring it to market with the base of the stem submerged in water which I sell in bunches, and I store in a room in our barn that is always less than 70 degrees F. This way seems a lot easier though.
I bag it, and it goes into a walk-in cooler immediately.
And I assume you don't have any issue with the leaves turning brown or black?
Thanks! This was very interesting and informative!
you use the praxxus55712 method of pruning. he does it with tomatoes and peppers as well to produce a thicker more supportive trunk.
It's good to keep things simple, perfect them, then move on to the next step. Keeping a small crop of basil is the best plan unless you start to get into secondary markets with value added products like pesto, chimichurri, and tomato sauces. Since they require so much hand work anyway you might try planting some of them under your tomatoes to see how they do. Once your other crops are out of the tunnels and your bottom branches are pruned, you have a good bit of open real estate in there.
With too much . I freeze mine for winter and it crumbles wonderful, for soups , stews , Italian dishes ! And keeps till I am ready to use it . Doesn’t turn brown stays green .
Thank you very much for the video, very informative. Do you know the wholesale price in the summer time? Thanks!
I am wondering how your soil still looks like any soil after years of applying compost and chicken fertilizer. Thanks
Genovese Basil is amazingly pungent, I would grow it just for the smell. A market owner told me he has trouble finding local fresh Basil here in SW Ontario, and that if someone were to start a greenhouse it should be mostly Basil. Our growing season is about 150 days, so a heated greenhouse can technically gain 215 days, which makes them more competitive. Unfortunately, most of our farmers markets close up for a few months, so buyers switch to mostly Mexican and some USA produce. Most of our Organic food comes from Mexico as well, the large buyers can't depend on our weather so typically they sign contracts in Mexico and the USA.
when I harvest mine it wilts to nothing in 2 hours at best. please how do you keep these herbs and greens solid for atleast a day or two till I can bring to the market
Thanks buddy! Any tips to keep it from going to flower 24/7? Or is the way you are harvesting stay on top of that?
Do you have issues with the plant getting woody, flowering etc. late in the season?
Always.
Do you plant fresh plants? Or that's just the end of your basil for the year?
+Urban Farmer Curtis Stone
how do you sell those topped basil leaves?
a bag, pack...
Great video - liked this a lot... thanks! This was very helpful.
Hi Curtis! Love the video. Curious about spacing herbs.
Urban Farmer Curtis Stone you inspired my first plots!!!
I will share and post updates ")
I know you utilize insect netting and I read your chapter on pest control (rotating sites etc.) but are there any new developments in your pest management?
thanks for the great video! What spacing do you use? Are you direct seeding basil or transplanting? Thank you :)
There are different basil varieties out there with different taste profiles.
Curtis,
Do you ever use "raised" beds? The ones in these videos look like they're flat/level with your pathways?
You mentioned wanting to get a good leaf to stem ratio so does that mean that you put the small top/node bunches right in the bag like the one you showed at the end of the video? As a consumer I have to do a little work to get only leaves, but not paying as much for a heavier steam if it was 6 inches long?
Also, how long does it take you to harvest the bed at this stage? 50 ft bed?
Yes, that goes straight into the bag. We never crop out a bed at once. We're picking 5-10 lbs at a time. Might take 10 minutes to pick 5 lbs.
Thanks
So when you say you're pinching the basil shoots, is that when you are harvesting it? Or are you just pinching it back and discarding it encouraging it to grow more? Sorry if it's a dumb question.
I'm harvesting
Tks...what do you sell Basil for? John
I’m having trouble packaging my basil. How do you package and store it?
What Guage netting works to control flea beetles?
Thank you.
How do you keep it from wilting after harvesting? I've heard not to refrigerate.
I put it in the cooler.
Couldn't just use your greens harvester on the basal? What variety of basil were you harvesting in the video?
Genius, I will never look at my basil plants the same lol .
Curtis - off subject - I noticed the tomatoes behind you in the greenhouse just loaded with fruit - question I have is who does the pollinating - bees or do you do it by hand.
I'mont exactly sure who does it. It's never been something to be concerned about. Some bugs are doing it, which ones exactly, I have no idea.
Thanks - you're lucky - I have to hand pollinate mine in the greenhouse even though it's open on one end.
shake your plants, the pollen goes everywhere.
tomatoes self poinate - no need for insects... just a bit of wind or shaking... If you trellis the plants to a main wire, you can shake the wire along the rows, it should do the job...
Pesto is a great money maker with basil and stores well.
Do you sell by the bunch or the ounce. ery helpful
+Charles Mitchell by the bag. Weight changes with supply and demand.
what kind of basil do you grow
All I did to make my basil to make it bigger is all I do is pick off the flower or little lower cutting off the basil leaves with the flowers... And it is exploding in size. Yes it was Pre-grown but I didn't start pruning until the flowers pop up.
I am having great success with my Lime-Basil.
Thanks master
Hi I live in Florida and have 5 acres farm land want to growth Asian produces but don’t know where to sell to.
Subscribed. Great Channel. Thank You.
what would you say are the best crops to start a urban farm with
Salad greens, cherry tomatoes, microgreens, kale, and some herbs.
Thank you I was wondering how much is you book im thinking about ordering one
It's worth it!
Great video again
Wouldn't it be better to ask the restaurants or whomever you're selling to what products they want instead of just throwing down this or that?
yes please
Hello, why dont you put a few more seeds in a pot?
We did. We thinned them out before we planted.
I know. But dont they grow fine with a few of them next to each other? I have never seen anyone planting a basil plant separate.
ummm do i have to pinch it off or can i cut it?
I've just been buying it in bulk for 7 a gram and selling for 15, totally not a drug dealer lol.
Too Good
For how much you sell your basil?
I see in your answers that you are just bagging and putting the basil into the cooler. Do you have any problems with the leaves turning brown/black in 24-48 hours?
No, because they're harvested dry and kept cool.
what about feeding?
They've got lots to eat.
Quite labor intensive for a crop. Doesn't seem like it's worth it. Maybe doing value added stuff with it like making pesto. Good pestos are hard to find.
+Bad Wolf Media we do well with basil. What do you mean by labour intensive? The fact that we have to pick it? It's hardly a labour intensive crop.
Hmm, maybe I have it wrong then. I'm, still learning. Which is why i watch your channel. Here's a question for you. What do you pay for the land you lease?
I don't get whose buying all your basil!?!?! We had 7-- 4oz bags at the market on Saturday and we only sold 4 of them!
It's never been a big seller for us. Growing out of season is the way to move it.
Ok. Gotcha!
Start giving an oz basil with every pound of tomatoes you sell. Value added!
18deadmonkeys not bad...
Try to find a good pizza place that finishes pizzas with fresh basil. My restaurant does and our demand is pretty steady. You might have better luck negotiating a good price with a boutique/foodie type place that places higher value in local produce than the lunch slice places, or simply take the commodity rate if it works for you.
101 comment this is 101th comment