First Micro Bouquet of the Summer
Category: Herbs
Thai Basil Pesto
I harvested much of the two Thai basil plants on my back porch and made pesto. I used it for dinner to make Thai pesto noodle bowls with crispy ground pork. I followed this tried and true recipe for the pesto though. So good!
First Tomatoes
I went to the garden tonight to harvest parsley and mint for a fattoush for dinner and noticed the first tomatoes of the season, yay! From left to right Stupice, (somewhat underripe) Black Strawberry and Baker’s Family Heirloom.
Pesto Time
I made a good amount of “pesto” today. By “pesto” I mean basil, salt and olive oil. I leave out the garlic, cheese and nuts to add later depending on the dish. This way, it is more versatile. Just blitzed it all up and froze it covered in olive oil in an ice cube tray. Looking forward to yummy meals all year long: pesto chicken, base for pizza and pasta, pesto mayo for sandwiches and much more. Next up will be my Thai basil peanut pesto.
June Lunch
Porch Update Early June
The porch looks great. I have a nice mix of flowers, herbs and vegetables. Despite my vow to not grow tomatoes on the porch this year, I have two cherry tomato plants: one Black Strawberry (grown from seed) and one Super Sweet 100 (given to me by a friend). I also have three pepper plants: Thai, Jalapeno and Sweet Pickle, one big container of basil and numerous other herbs (rosemary, sage, mint, thyme, chives, Thai basil, cilantro, parsley). Plus a big pot with Swiss Chard, which I have been harvesting and eating (for example sauteed with garlic over pan-fried lemon garlic flounder) over the past few days. A couple of days ago, I reseeded salad greens in two of the pepper containers (May Queen with the Jalapeno and Salanova Mix with the Sweet Pickle). The third pepper container (Thai) contains the Thai basil.
Garden Plot 2022
Planting Tomatoes
I finally got to spend a few hours in the garden to weed and plant. COVID had basically knocked me out the entire month of April, and life, work and the weather got in the way until today. While weeding, I discovered that the cilantro and the beets I sowed earlier this spring germinated. They are tiny because of all the weeds but are looking strong. Yay! So I excavated them plus the sole kale plant and the couple of carrots that survived. I have had all my seedlings ready for weeks, but now finally got to plant the first batch: tomatoes (12 plants, 10 varieties total, I doubled Ananas Noire and Stupice), four basil plants and four marigolds. All grown from seed except the marigolds, which came from Neighborhood Farm. The peas and the garlic are looking good. Next, I will plant all the cucumbers and squash, eggplant, lettuce, leeks etc. waiting so patiently on my back porch.
Porch Arugula
I harvested a huge bowl of arugula on my back porch today. Now there are only leaf lettuces left in that big pot and they have all the space they need. The radishes, flowers and herbs are looking good. I also transplanted a Thai pepper into a big container yesterday (bought as, sadly, none my my seeds germinated).
Spring Planting and First Harvest
I have not been in the garden for a while because I had COVID for the past three and a half weeks and was not feeling too great. I had managed to sow peas and spring greens in early April and they are sprouting. Today, I did more direct sowing. I sowed red beets (Detroit Dark Red), carrots (Scarlet Nantes and Danvers Half Long), Rainbow Chard and cilantro. I also transplanted a parsley plant I had purchased a few days ago and four kale seedlings I had started indoors a few weeks ago. We still do not have water in the garden. Fingers crossed for some showers in the next few days, so I do not have to schlepp water from home.
I also harvested my first crops today, spring onions. They were so fragrant! And the asparagus is getting ready.
