Monday, July 13, 2009

Ladybugs and Spinach-Rosemary Pasta

Judy and I are taking breaks from painting the house and hikes (at least for Judy and her friends) and other stuff, by putting up vegetables and fruits from our gardens.

Tomorrow Judy will begin jam making. Strawberry-rhubarb jam. Today I inserted thousands of ladybugs into the greenhouse. Then I pulled a spinach crop out of the ground, washed the product, and planted the last row of arugula. Then I cut some rosemary sprigs, and made some spinach pasta dough.

Some went into vacuum seal bags. The rest got made into noodles and cooked, mixed with fresh tomatoes, in a cream sauce. We served it with a garden salad, mixed with strawberries and basil, and barbecued Copper River Sockeye. With dinner, we drank a 2006
Cline Cellars Ancient Vine Mourvedre.

Here are some garden pictures:

Ladybugs on flowering cilantro (for seed):

Ripening tomatoes:

Tubs of garden greens and house paints:

Alpine Asters:

Border flowers:

Harvesting spinach:

Making spinach-rosemary pasta:

Finished pasta:

8 comments:

Star the wonder pup said...

Asters in July? good grief.

Laura said...

This post makes me hungry. Your plants look beautiful--far more bountiful than mine here in Illinois. Do you share recipes?

Philip Munger said...

Laura,

I love to share recipes.

Anonymous said...

Phil,

My second post. Yum on the pasta. I have been bugging my hubby for a pasta maker!! Nothing like home grown veggies.

An older girl from Ohio. lol

Peace and love.....

Linda

Georgia Eliot said...

pardon my ignorance, Phil, but what do the ladybugs do in the greenhouse?

crystalwolf aka caligrl said...

Phil,
I love your gardening posts... :)
Your pasta looks delicious! I would also love to see a recipe post. Your pasta and cream sauce sound divine.
Thanks for sharing your gardening pictures, I always enjoy them.

Philip Munger said...

George Eliot,

They eat aphids and other pests. This past ten days saw an incredibly large aphid hatch, particularly in Birch trees. It appears the lady bugs are saving my thriving basil and pepper plants.

Georgia Eliot said...

thanks Phil - I adore lady bugs, now I have a better reason than they're cute and make me happy.
Your garden pics are a real pleasure - I appreciate how they pop up between posts on the Little Shop of Horrors, like your flowers growing between the rocks.
(btw no biggie but it's Georgia - I would never presume to steal the handle from the master Miss Evans...)