Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Midsummer Garden Flowers & Harvest

We're constantly harvesting fruits and vegetables from our gardens now. The cloudy, damp weather these past ten days is still much warmer than last summer's misery.

A purple poppy:

Potato flowers:

Pea flowers:

Green bean flowers:

Strawberry flowers:

Raspberries coming in:

Basil being harvested:

Harvested basil:

Finished pesto - 17 batches:

11 comments:

flying fish said...

Not enough rain in southeast (!) to make peas happy, potatoes flowered about 3 weeks (a month?) ago...I feel silly having planted a bunch of 'cold weather' crops, our summer has been HOT!

That purple poppy is beautiful.

Susie Snowflake said...

I love fresh basil and have my first plant. I am wondering if you might share your pesto recipe, and how you store it so that you can make 17 container's worth that you can eat before it goes bad. Do you freeze it or what? Thanks!

Philip Munger said...

SS,

pesto:

2 cups compacted basil leaves
2 or more garlic cloves
3/4 cup pine nuts, walnuts, pecans or mix
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp or less salt

blend

Susie Snowflake said...

Thanks, Philip! The recipe sounds good and easy enough; I bet you have it memorized by now after making so much of it. I'm just discovering how well some vegetables, etc. can be grown here by a non-professional gardener. Did you raise these indoors or outdoors, and how long does the pesto keep? I assume that you just keep it refrigerated? Thanks again, SS

Philip Munger said...

SS,

the only way to grow basil productively in southcentral AK is in a greenhouse.

We freeze it. Like a lot of Alaskans we have a very large chest freezer. It stores well for at least five years that way, but doesn't last that long.

Georgia Eliot said...

thanks for this, it's all so loverly!

Unknown said...

Phil is close on the recipe, but I'm the one who actually makes it.

2 c packed basil leaves
1 c pine nuts
1/2 c olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic
1 t salt

Blend in food processor. Add Parmesan when serving.

Susie Snowflake said...

Thanks to you both, Judy and Phil.
I appreciate the tips. SS

Debra Hardy said...

What a beautiful picture of the purple poppy. My friend is tying to finish a painting with purple poppies, and she will be thrilled to see your photo. Thanks for sharing it with us!

lbc flower delivery said...

Well, I can see that you have a healthy garden. Wish I can also visit your garden some other time. Thanks for sharing

-yumi-

Scotts Plants said...

Awesome looking poppies! I'm trying to identify this purple one now because I had the same one a few seasons ago myself. However I cannot remember which one it is. It is definitely an import, perhaps Tasmanian? Let me know if you find out. Thanks for sharing!