I turned three zucchini I had recently harvested into a very tasty side dish. I first drew out some water (because one of the zucchini was pretty big) by sprinkling the finger-thick slices with salt and letting them sit for 15 minutes. After blotting them dry, I sauteed them and finished them of in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes. I then added chopped pistachios and chopped fresh parsley and basil from my back porch. Super delicious with fresh baguette.
Nice big harvest today. I keep forgetting to take pictures. I harvested a ton of Italian basil and made basil pesto (really just basil, olive oil and salt; no garlic, cheese or nuts), which I froze in ice cube trays. I like to leave out the garlic, cheese and the nuts to keep it more versatile, as I also use it on fish or roasted vegetables, where I might not always want cheese.
Last night, I harvested a bunch of Thai basil from my plot and made this delicious Thai basil pesto. It uses toasted sesame oil and peanuts, and gets a little kick from red pepper flakes. The kids and I had one of our favorite meals last night – crispy pork bowls topped with Thai pesto. I used this recipe for the pork. So good! I made a second batch of Thai pesto but left out the vinegar and lime juice, and froze it for future use.
This morning, I cleaned my hardneck garlic for storage. I did not grow much garlic this year (only 12 heads, and those heads are huge), but might amp up production for the next year. I saved the two largest heads as seed garlic.
I harvested my first tomatoes! Stupice, a small-fruited tasty early Czech variety. As in previous years, I staggered my tomatoes and planted early, mid-season and late tomatoes, hoping to ensure a steady tomato harvest from July through November. This year, I planted 8 varieties (11 plants total). Early varieties: Stupice, Ailsa Craig (2 plants) ; Mid-season varieties: Brimmer, Striped German (2), Black Prince; Late varieties: Green Zebra, De Wiese Streaked (a shipping mistake, I had ordered Dr. Wyche’s Yellow, one of my favorite tomatoes), Ananas Noire (2). The tomato seeds were from Sand Hill Preservation Center (Stupice, Ailsa Craig, Brimmer, Black Prince, De Wiese Streaked), Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (Green Zebra, Ananas Noire) and Johnnys (Striped German).
I cleaned and braided my softneck garlic this afternoon. With only 13 heads, this is the smallest braid ever. But those heads are big. But then, I still have four heads from last year’s harvest. The braid will hang in my pantry for storage. I will consume my hardnecks first, plus four or five smaller (and “injured”) softnecks that did not make it into the braid. I also saved the two largest heads separately as seed garlic to go in the ground in late October/early November. The hardneck garlic is still just hanging in the back hallway. I want to give it a bit more time for curing before I clean it and put it away as it has been very hot and humid these past few weeks.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been harvesting a lot of zucchini, kale, herbs and flowers. I even donated two zucchini to our new donation basket, which we attached outside the garden gate. Today, I harvested the first two cucumbers, which I intend to pickle. My tomatoes are all still green, and sadly, the bunnies keep eating the baby winter squash :(. The basil is thriving, I might make the first batches of pesto very soon. Everything is doing well, we have had a long heat wave and a few crazy thunderstorms, so the gardens are lush.
