I am so excited, the garden is growing fast and furious and the money that I invested this year really seems to be paying off.
The tomatoes, that I was sure were fried and lost, are now almost 2ft high.
The tomatillos are still an experiment but growing quickly and fast going to bloom.
Every other day I'm pulling the plants back into the cages so that they grow straight up. They're growing fast and furious and trying to go every direction.
The 3 basil plants I put in around the tomatoes are doing extremely well. That is my oldest (was the only for about a decade), best fertiziled bed and they are loving it! The other 4 basils are in my herb bed that was built 3 years ago. They are not doing quite as well because the soil is not as well established but still doing quite nicely.
The oregano I planted 3 years ago in my herb bed is a monster! I dug half out before the plant really started growing and still had to whack back the plant this week cause it was threatening to smother my other herbs. I took a grocery bag full of oregano to work to give away and still have tonnes left in the garden! I foresee a huge batch of oregano pesto in my future (if I have the patience to pick off all those tiny leaves).
The sad pathetic romaine lettuce that I started from seed this year (my first seed expirement) were really leggy but I buried deep and they are growing amazing in my part shade bed. I'm so excited! I should be able to harvest nicely before the end of the month.
The potatoes seems to have recovered from our +100F weather which caused them to fall over, they are all upright and healthy looking now. Note to self, despite the full sun directions plant in part shade next year.
Looking back on my debates about investing in a CSA this year, I'm glad I decided to invest that money into expanding my garden instead. It's so sad to see the destruction to the crop fields that the flooding of the Missouri is causing. I will find other ways to help but I'm glad I'm not losing the garden/veggie funds.
Stay tuned, I'm yet to lose my mind with all the harvesting soon....
Showing posts with label basil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basil. Show all posts
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Long overdue!
Ok so I've been busy, to be honest that's an understatement!
So to catch up, I started seeds indoors this year to save money and over a couple weeks in March I started:
- Leeks
- Celery
- Parsley
- Summer Savory
- Roma Tomatoes
- Beefsteak Tomatoes
- Tomatillo's
- Eggplant
- Romaine
- Basil
- Marigolds
- Patty-pan squash
- Mammoth Sunflowers rota
and
- some annuals for the flower bed
Note to self: The squash and sunflowers do NOT need to be started early. Everything else should be started EARLIER!
I doubled the garden this year with a lot of help from the hubby, and as a result I've concluded that I need rotatiller. I've made out fine hand turning the soil up to now but oh my, that's a lot of soil now.
As of this morning the last of the beds was prepped and seeded. The garden as it stands now is:
So to catch up, I started seeds indoors this year to save money and over a couple weeks in March I started:
- Leeks
- Celery
- Parsley
- Summer Savory
- Roma Tomatoes
- Beefsteak Tomatoes
- Tomatillo's
- Eggplant
- Romaine
- Basil
- Marigolds
- Patty-pan squash
- Mammoth Sunflowers rota
and
- some annuals for the flower bed
Note to self: The squash and sunflowers do NOT need to be started early. Everything else should be started EARLIER!
I doubled the garden this year with a lot of help from the hubby, and as a result I've concluded that I need rotatiller. I've made out fine hand turning the soil up to now but oh my, that's a lot of soil now.
As of this morning the last of the beds was prepped and seeded. The garden as it stands now is:
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Crazy Weather and Basil Pesto
Today's forecast is 85F and we'll be running the AC, which is just crazy in October. Last year this weekend we had a frost advisory for which I lovingly covered my garden in sheets, only to discover 2 inches of wet snow the next day.
To add misery to the mix, there had been wind that night that blew my sheets off some of the herbs and I lost my basil which I discovered is far too tender for cold weather. I did of course make an attempt to try and save the basil by researching the internet. Several sites suggested that a person could still dry the leaves in the dehydrator so I cleaned the dark soggy leaves as best I could and put them in the dehydrator. No luck. They did dry but into flavorless black things that were not fit for use.
Having learned that lesson, I made sure I harvested my basil last weekend when they issued a frost advisory. I clipped out all the basil stalks, washed them carefully in the sink to get rid of all the bugs and dirt, and laid them on layers of tea towels to dry. It turned out that we did not get frost that night but it was good to force me to make the pesto, lots, and get it into the freezer for the winter.
This time I made Sun-dried tomato basil pesto. It's hard to share the recipe because I'm an experimental cook but pretty much it was:
- 1/2 Costco size jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
- cake mixing bowl 3/4 full of basil leaves that had the stems pinched off
- 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
- about 2 cups of parmesan cheese
- lots and lots of olive oil, pour freely
Process until well blended. I use the blender although it's more challenging and would be a lot easier with a food processor (which is on my wish list).
To add misery to the mix, there had been wind that night that blew my sheets off some of the herbs and I lost my basil which I discovered is far too tender for cold weather. I did of course make an attempt to try and save the basil by researching the internet. Several sites suggested that a person could still dry the leaves in the dehydrator so I cleaned the dark soggy leaves as best I could and put them in the dehydrator. No luck. They did dry but into flavorless black things that were not fit for use.
Having learned that lesson, I made sure I harvested my basil last weekend when they issued a frost advisory. I clipped out all the basil stalks, washed them carefully in the sink to get rid of all the bugs and dirt, and laid them on layers of tea towels to dry. It turned out that we did not get frost that night but it was good to force me to make the pesto, lots, and get it into the freezer for the winter.
This time I made Sun-dried tomato basil pesto. It's hard to share the recipe because I'm an experimental cook but pretty much it was:
- 1/2 Costco size jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
- cake mixing bowl 3/4 full of basil leaves that had the stems pinched off
- 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
- about 2 cups of parmesan cheese
- lots and lots of olive oil, pour freely
Process until well blended. I use the blender although it's more challenging and would be a lot easier with a food processor (which is on my wish list).
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