Presto Pesto

I made my second batch of pesto yesterday. We aren't really ready to eat it this week. I decided to freeze some for later. But first...here is how I make my pesto.

1) Stumble out to garden feeling groggy but determined.
2) Scout out the basil that is ready for harvest amongst the jungle.
3) Trim off what looks like 2-3 cups worth.
4) Stroll by the brussel sprouts to pick off any cabbage worms that are trying to feast.
5) Tear yourself away from any other garden task that seems to be calling you.
6) Go inside and rinse the basil thoroughly.
7) Remove all of the containers of leftovers from the top shelf of the fridge to locate your shredded parmesan cheese. Measure off 1/4cup (or more if you are cheesy) of parm and set aside.
8) Peal and mince 2-4 garlic cloves (depending on what you like). Try not to slice off your finger nail like this girl right here did.
9) Decide that pine nuts are over rated and pull out the walnuts instead. Chop up 1/4 cup and set aside.
10) Measure out 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil.
11) Cut and juice a lime for 1 tbls of juice.
12) Rummage through the cabinets for all of the parts to your food processor.
13) Throw in Basil and pulse, then add some garlic, then some walnuts, pulse some more, then more garlic, pulse, then some walnuts....
14) add parm and olive oil
15) Continue to pulse till smooth consistency.
16) Suddenly remember the lime juice and throw that in. Pulse a few more times.
17) Taste and decide it needs a little nutmeg and dash some in...pulseeeee
18) Scrap all of the pesto into a Ziploc bag and snip off a corner.
19) Pull out a ice tray from the freezer. Crack it and dump the ice in the ice bin. Rinse it out for good measure.
20) Squeeze out pesto into cubicles and laugh out loud as Office Space lines run through your head.
21) Place tray in freezer.
22) Smile because you have a dishwasher or not.
23) Let them freeze up and then move them over to a freezer bag and use cubes as needed.

Tadaaaaaaa!

Give Me Some Sugar!

MMMMMMMMMM.... Sugar Snap Peas. Does anybody not like sugar snap peas? And if so, are your taste buds fried off?

I planted sugar snaps in three intervals starting back in March. They had the cover of a make shift greenhouse to help them get started. Once a week for three weeks I would press more seeds into the ground. They only need about 1.5"-2" of spacing. I guess they like the company?

Like most peas, sugar snaps are a cool weather crop. You can plant them as early as 2-4 weeks before the last frost. If you missed getting them in this Spring, do not fret! You get a second chance in the Fall. Plant seeds alternatively 6-8 weeks before the first Fall frost date. They like a lot of nitrogen in the soil. I used some of our grass clippings and mixed that directly into the soil.

The snaps took off fast and they nearly tore down the trellis I built for them. I had to add an 'extension' to the trellis a couple of weeks ago because they were reaching for the sky and falling over from the weight of the peas. Apparently they can grow to 6' tall. I somehow missed that tidbit of information.

The snap peas have slowly been disappearing. I can't help but pull them straight off of the vine every time I come into the garden to work. I handed one to Matt last week and he commented that it reminded him of his childhood. His folks had a garden when he was a kid and I could tell by the smile on his face it is a very positive memory.

I can't wait to cook these up with a little butter! Or, boil them up and saute them with mushrooms and olive oil. Yummy! That is ...if they make it to the pan :)

Volunteers

Composting kitchen scraps and yard waste greatly reduces your amount of trash and can really pay off in the garden. We use a large barrel tumbler for our kitchen composting. It keeps animals out and cooks pretty quickly. It still doesn't produce enough compost to add to all of the garden beds on our nearly 1/2 acre lot. This year, Matt brought in some compost from the city. It was really inexpensive and beautifully rich.

We started to run out of the compost we brought in right as I was turning over the ground bed in our veggie garden. I remembered our barrel compost and we spread it through the center of the ground bed. After only a few days, I noticed little volunteer seedlings popping up right where we spread our own home compost. I decided to let that area stay "Volunteer". I knew that all of the produce we use in our own kitchen is organic. I felt confident about letting these selfless plants grow and prosper.

The volunteers are really the strongest and largest plants in our garden. I am thinking that their ability to survive the compost bin makes them super seeds! I will try and harvest seeds from some of these plants for next year.

I am not sure which plants are squash or zucchini...it will be a surprise. I also found a little watermelon volunteer emerging and numerous cherry tomato plants.

Yay for volunteers!

Drop It Like It's Hot

I may have been over zealous in the pepper department this year. I think that I often forget we are a family of 2. We have 6 Jalapeno plants, 1 Garden Salsa Pepper plant, 6 Banana Pepper plants, 3 Red Chili Pepper, 3 Red Bells, 3 Yellow Bells, and 3 Green Bells. They are all blooming and the little peppers are beginning to fruit!

I have to say that peppers are another very easy plant to grow. They are virtually indestructible. They crave warm weather and a long growing season. I think we have that pretty covered here in the South. I have read about pepper caterpillars and grubs but I have never seen one. Of course, now that I wrote that...the pests are probably swarming in. I had a little pepper 'happy accident'. I found out that Basil and Peppers are good companion plants. They really seem to be taking off together.

I'm going to be looking for ways to use all of these different varieties. Salsas are a no brainer. I'm thinking of some funky pepper pickling. Say that three times real fast. Funky Pepper Pickling...
Share with me your favorite pepper recipes!