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Pesto! A simple recipe for the weekend.
I read on a friend’s post that her basil wasn’t quite big enough to make pesto yet. The secret to big basil plants is frequently prune the top leaves, just above the joints where new branches are forming. This opens up those baby leaves to more sunlight, and the plant will bush out before you know it. I used to prune the bottom leaves, which only leads to the plants growing tall and skinny and flowering before a good harvest…
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Bumbles on Mint
Maybe because it is overcast and actually looks like we might see rain, the bees have kicked it into high gear this morning buzzing around the mint and oregano blossoms. They are so busy that I can get my camera within inches of their fuzzy little bodies without them minding. Watching them has become one of my favorite activities. They climb around and up the mint blossoms, attacking it like my husband attacks an ear of corn at dinner. They…
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Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes in Olive Oil
There is no doubt in my mind that fresh tomato and basil is the official taste of the summer. I can understand the argument for watermelon, especially as I have friends who live for Cookout’s seasonal watermelon milkshake, but there is nothing that compares with some homemade bread topped with pesto and cherry tomatoes. Our garden is currently overrun with two things: climbing squash vines on which no squash are currently growing and cherry tomato plants – Matt’s Wild Cherry…
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Tomato harvest and fun in the kitchen
It has been several summers since the tomato crop has come up this abundant and delicious. This means instead of immediately devouring each small, cracked, sad piece of fruit we pick, we can do a little cooking and storing. Several days of picking builds up in the dining room before the fun starts This Dutchman pink tomato passed the cheddar test. Brandywine! After I lost the first plant, I wasn’t sure we’d get any this summer. Tomato basil soup has…
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In Bloom: Bi-color Dahlia
This dahlia is very slowly opening. I wish I could tell you what kind it is, but I honestly don’t know. It could be one that I got on clearance last year, or it could be some bulbs I picked up in late spring. Either way, I’m happy it has made an appearance! The dahlias in the front yard fall over once the blossoms open. Any tips on that? I don’t want to have to stake them all, and I…
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Bolted, Pulled and Planted again!
Yesterday afternoon, Scooby and I were pulling weeds out of the gravel at the crawl space access, when I noticed there was a bed of baby arugula. I didn’t plant it there, but back in the spring when I relocated a bed to add the gravel, there was an arugula plant that had already gone to seed. It turns out that all those seeds were dropped in the gravel. It’s somewhat of a dream of mine to have a self-planting…
