Basil at Its Finest

The first batch of basil pesto went into jars this afternoon.  Oh, so good!

I use a recipe I kind of made up.  It's good for basil, red peppers, a combination all sorts of herbs, whatever you want to do.  For pesto right now I use my blender, but a food processor would allow for larger batches.  As is this recipe fills my blender, then I rinse it out and do another few rounds of this--food processor is on my wish list.

Basil Pesto
2 c. fresh basil
1/3 c. pine nuts
1 tbs. lemon juice
1/2 c. olive oil
2 to 3 garlic gloves, chopped
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
pepper and salt to taste
{I have gotten into the habit of adding just the smallest pinch imaginable of ground red pepper to this in addition to the black pepper and salt}

Combine basil, pine nuts, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic in a blender or food processor and pulse until almost pureed.  Add Parmesan and pulse to combine but not puree.  Add salt and pepper and pulse to blend.

Pour into a pint jar and add just enough olive oil on top to cover the pesto.  I like to put another covering of olive oil on top every so often to keep things nice and fresh tasting.  Refrigerate pesto between uses.  Pesto can be frozen too.  It cannot be processed.

*When using my blender I put in 1/2 of the basil with the other ingredients and puree, then add the other half to make sure it purees well.

And there is plenty more basil out back among my overgrown herb paradise.

Lemon Balm Tea

My lemon balm is finally doing something.  This means one thing.  Tea.  I'm not a minty person, but lemon balm, lemon basil, anything with an essence of lemon I'm all over.  This tea is crazy easy to make with fresh leaves and one of my favorites.  You just pick, wash, and then brew for however strong you want your tea.  I put my lemon balm in my little floating tea flower or ball to make one cup and fill the cup about 1/4 way to make a sort of concentrate.  After about 20 minutes I'll fill the rest of the cup with warm water and enjoy.  But if you have enough lemon balm why not make a whole pitcher?  To make a batch I stuff as much lemon balm as I can in large tea bags I find at the tea shop in town and brew for 20 to 30 minutes.  Lemon balm can also be dried like any herb.  I'll most likely do that with some of it.  But in an attempt to brighten winter I planted lemon balm in a pot that can be brought inside, so hopefully in January I'll still be plucking fresh lemon balm leaves.

Free Spirits

When I've gone over to the okra I've been one track minded.  It takes a lot of concentration to make sure all the okra gets plucked while its young and tender.  Then, of course I've been mostly going out in the dim light of day lately.  Today while going over the okra {been getting about a dozen okra a day which I promptly cut up and freeze}, I spied something in the corner of the bed.  Looks like my lemon basil reseeded, and then check out this onion--mystery how it wound up there.  I promptly went over and foraged a few leafs from the basil.  I've missed it!  I had quite a bit {understatement} going strong until late June when even that tapered off due to the heat, and I just recently planted a new batch.  Lemon basil is now my favorite basil hands down for things like salad dressings.  This little plant will certainly be cultivated.

Herbs & Other Things

Today was the first day it was comfortable to leave the windows open until noon.  It was also the official day for planting things like radishes, herbs, and cooler weather greens and peas according to the U of A planting guidelines.  This evening under some feathery orange clouds that's what I was up to in the little side plot.

Time to Dry Those Herbs

My dill grew crazy tall and was this magnificent deep shade of green, now its done in the garden at the house {I have green stuff at the community plot still} and these giant dry stalks gives off this wonderful smell reminiscent of dill pickle chips...I love dill pickle chips.  From this dill I'm harvesting all but the stalk...the seeds and leafs will go to use in my salad dressings, potato salads, and of course to make pickles and dill fries and season fish.  Seeds will go separate from the dry leafs in jars.  I've never grown as many herbs as this season and I'm looking forward to drying and saving and packaging for gifting out.  There may be a possibility I'll have enough to sell at farmers markets this coming fall/spring.  For other herbs such as sage, oregano, and basil I'm rigging up a drying station in the garage since these varieties should be dried away from the sun.

I'm thinking German Potato Salad...love dill seed

Love that smell!

I found Country Wisdom and Know How has nice overviews on topics such as "Growing & Using Dill"...plan on trying some of the recipes here too.  I remember browsing through a useful book like this when I was little on my parents' book shelf.  Although all the "how to" is just a broad overview, I love simple resources like this as a start to more complex projects.

Trimming basil is the next project, but that will wait until morning.  The mornings have been wonderfully cool--in the 60's.  With a cup of coffee and my clippers I will be cutting away and stringing up.  This experimental batch will drive how I dry the next batch that will be more prolific...I've never dried this many herbs before.  I can't believe how this garden is starting to put out.  Life is good in the desert.

Life Lately

Posts have not been as frequent, but don't get the wrong impression.  Plenty has been taking place; life has been very full with busy, busy work days and then trying to have a life after work too.

picking lemon basil by the handful to use fresh and dry too {note the runaway ant center left!}

picking peas too, although this round is starting to fade

gazing at the purple splendor taking off despite the 100* temps...I love it when I'm gifted petunias!

Just Enough

I harvested what there was of the cilantro yesterday.  Sister Caprice came over and used this bouquet with some peppers, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and lime to whip up some fresh salsa to have with burgers.  I'm hopeful I can get at least one more round before it gets toasty.  Love that fresh cilantro smell and do believe it made the salsa taste even better.

Herb Boxes

cilantro, sage, oregano, and hopefully lemon balm in the boxes...basil and thyme other places, and of course that dill
No mint...can't stand the stuff, maybe it was getting too much of a concentrated smell of it on the Bower's mint farm on the Missouri or too many trips in an air tight pickup cab on trips to Mitchell with some good guys who loved their wintergreen skoal, but it won't be found in my garden.

I've tried something new with my herbs this season.  I'm not sure if it'll be a permanent technique in my gardens, but right now it serves its purpose.  Lots of cilantro and sage going and oregano trying.  I've been frustrated with my lemon balm.  The stuff is suppose to grow like weeds, but not here.

Anyways, my herbs are doing okay.  I'm dreaming of the day that they overflow like weeds.  Basil is said to do well in Zone 9...mine is off to a good start.  I'm not sold on the blocks.  In my next life I might just stick to pots and then maybe some tin cans??  Or maybe just the good old ground.

Hot day in the garden for sure.  Good day for that okra to grow.

What's Up This Wendesday

All of these tasty things sprouting have been directly sown in the ground.  They're doing well.  Some are a bit spotty, but I have more seeds I can fill in the holes if nothing comes up if need be.  With the mustard and mizuna I'm really going to watch to make sure things don't get to thick...thinning and whatnot where necessary.  Loads of other things are coming up, but you'll have to wait until the weekend to see more.

cilantro!

green lance brocoli...a.k.a. Chinese kale

mustard

purple mizuna

squash (type unknown!) tucked in for the night

Ode to Dill

Can't help but absolutely love dill.  I love it in so many things...potato salad, pasta salads, salads, fish, when canning pickles, in dips....and it smells sooo good.

dill with fresh catfish for appetizers...sprinkle with panko crumbs 1/2 way through!