I will be the first to admit that I am not the best gardener. I’m still a bit baffled how last year and this year I did everything exactly the same and got no tomatoes last year and this year, I have more than I know what to do with. The freezers didn’t have much room in them already but now they’re are packed to the gills with tomatoes. I weighed out 10 pounds of pear tomatoes yesterday and am going to start tomato jam when I get done with this post.
It seems like with the heat, this year should have been more challenging than last year but that has not been the case for my garden.
I’ve already mentioned that I have been starting new pots of basil about every six weeks. Every single year I’ve raised basil, when it got really hot, the basil was one of the first, after cilantro, to bolt. I figured once it started to bolt, I’d dump it and re-use pot for the next planting. Every now and then, a sprig will bolt but, for the most part, it has not bolted. I’ve been cutting it back more often since I now have 8 pots of basil and maybe that’s kept it from bolting. Whatever I’m doing, I hope I can make it happen like this again next year. We use a lot of basil through the year.
This morning I cut back everything that needed to be cut. I had no idea how well this plan was going to work. I’ve planted several different types of basil. I’d just open a seed pack and once all those seeds were planted, I’d open another one. I kinda thought that basil is basil but now that I have several types growing, I can see a huge difference. There’s one type I’m loving. The leaves are huge, there’s a center stem, more like a little tree. I’m going to label the pots next year.
Look how big some of these leaves are. The quarter is for reference.
Four trays of basil now in the freeze dryer. I told Chad I would have enough oregano, basil, sage, rosemary and parsley for him for the year. I’m probably there on basil but I’ll keep freeze drying it as long as it keeps making. I’m also going to try to keep a couple of plants in the greenhouse this winter and see if I can have freeze basil all year.
Sometimes I tell myself I’m getting too old for all this gardening . . but I don’t know that I’ll ever give up gardening. The garden may get smaller but there will always be something growing in my back yard . . til I can no longer afford my water bill probably. Pretty crazy that my water bill was more than my electric bill this month. 🙂
Tee says
I tried basil tea this tear and its delicious. It has almost an addictive flavor. You want more!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I’ll have to try that. Thanks!
Susan Nixon says
That’s beautiful basil. I didn’t grow any herbs this year. Not much besides okra, actually, and the jury is still out on that. The squirrels keep getting the strawberries, and even some of Paul’s peppers (his garden is different from mine), so that hasn’t gone anywhere, either. I always used to grow lemon basil and another flavored one, too, pineapple sage, I think. Both so yummy in recipes. My water bill is always more than the electric, but it’s because the sewer bill is at least twice the water bill. I never lived where I had a sewer bill before! It’s crazy.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
The only place we ever had a sewer bill added to the water was in Nevada, MO and it was always more than the water bill. Here, our trash, which is just $17/month) is added to the water bill but that’s the only extra. In the summer, with the garden and fruit trees, it gets pretty expensive.
Susan Nixon says
Good to know I’m not the only one who’s experienced the sewer bill. Your trash isn’t bad, and that I don’t pay … not a direct swap of expenses, but good to know there’s something they aren’t charging me! =)