2012 crop review

At the end of the year, I like to go through my crops from last year, one-by-one, and write down the successes, failures and what I'd like to do different next year.

Going alphabetical the first is:
Apples. Well I'm starting the list off with a failure. No apples this year from my dwarf Fuji tree :-( I forgot to spray it with dormant oil before the buds broke this spring. The tree got badly infected with something. No flowers and no fruit. Also, growth of a maple to the east has shaded it more. Last winter we took down a big branch, maybe not in time to affect this year's flowers and fruit. Hopefully next year added light and timely dormant oil application will give us some apples. An added note, this summer I pruned the tree back quite a bit. I removed a lot of sucker growth and shortened the length of all branches.

Asparagus. I was able to harvest one small meal from my 3 year old patch this year. It was yummy. It seems that the spears grow faster than I had realized and that I'll need to harvest daily to catch them at the right point for eating. Many escaped me this year and got to big for eating. I expanded my asparagus patch this year and put in about 10 more new crowns. Its now about 4 x 5 ft. I fertilized with liquid fish fertilizer and kept it watered and weeded well this year. The ferns looked really nice. I cut them down a couple weeks ago and they are providing mulch for the plants now. I'll add some hay to the top next time I am at the plot. I am definitely looking forward to a BIG harvest of asparagus next spring!!

Basil. I planted a big patch of basil under the tomatoes. Then, when late blight was spotted nearby early, I started spraying the tomatoes with copper. This seemed to seriously damage the basil. The leaves looked burnt. I pulled all the plants after a couple weeks of spraying. Next year, no basil under tomatoes. The basil grows better in my sheltered side yard garden anyway and is more convenient to harvest there. I am thinking of planting all herbs in my side yard next year.

harvests: basil, onions and beets

my basil plot

Here's a photo of my basil today. OK I think. No basil blight. Weeds, but no blight.

basil blight! what's that?

NPR ran this story yesterday: Basil Blight Threatens Pesto Lovers. I haven't noticed any signs here yet, but now I will watch for it.

more basil harvested

This is the basil I harvested on Saturday. We trimmed the leaves off the stems, added olive oil and processed it. Its waiting in the fridge now til I buy pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. Then we (i.e. my husband) will turn it into pesto and freeze it. Its a bumper crop this year and should easily last us til next year.

sun burned basil

A bit of burning on the tender basil leaves from their first days out in the sun. Other seedlings look fine. Its hard to know what's too much for the young plants. I put them out again today, but its cloudy which should be easier on them.

basil harvest

I like a nice big garbage bag full of basil at the end of summer. This one should get us through the winter with plenty of pesto.

basil (Ocimum basilicum)

the basil is still waiting for harvest

Here's a project for tomorrow. My basil is ready and waiting to be made into pesto. It is a great crop this year. One row about 8 feet long. I keep the flowers pinched and it makes nice big leaves.

Tomorrow, if I get time, (I've been trying to find time for this for a couple weeks now) I'll cut down the plants, bring them home, trim off and wash all the leaves, food process them with olive oil and then refrigerate them. When my husband gets time (he's the real chef!) he'll add cheese, nuts and salt to make pesto.

The garden is really looking like fall now. The squash vines in the foreground are almost all dead. I have pulled most of the tomato vines (just behind the basil), though the poles are still up. Peas and beans are sprouting nicely beneath them. Those are beets behind the basil, which have been a fantastic crop this year.

basil (Ocimum basilicum)

blue basil on the windowsill

I pulled up my basil on Thursday. I'm enjoying these purple flowers on my kitchen windowsill.

basil (Ocimum basilicum)

basil harvest

Its been another good year for basil. Today we harvested a good bag full and processed it partially for pesto. Just ground the leaves with a bit of olive oil and froze it in baggies. We add nuts, garlic and more oil when we use it.

I left enough of the plants so that I can use fresh leaves now and then and so that the plants will regrow. Last year I got a second crop in October.

Ocimum basilicum

African blue basil

I put some blue basil in a pot near my kitchen door. Unlike sweet basil, the flowers of blue basil don't need to be pinched because the plant does not produce seed. The flavor is more clove-like, but it makes a nice garnish.

culinary herbs

basil plants

I just finished planting 18 basil plants. I hope they grow up to be good pesto! I find that basil is prone to root rot in our damp spring weather. Often, later in the season, I need to fill in a few holes where I've lost plants. But, for now, the young plants look good.

Ocimum basilicum

Another basil harvest

Well, it sure was a good year for basil. I have always thought a second harvest was possible, but have never actually gotten one. This year we have had two big batches of basil. The first was in late August when I cut the plants down leaving about 5 inches of stem and a few leaves. During September, the plants regrew to their original height. This weekend I cut the entire plant off and cleared out the beds. I think we'll get a frost in a week or two anyway. We'll be able to eat pesto every day all winter now!

Ocimum basilicum

Tomatoes with mozarella

Ocimum basilicum








This is my favorite way to eat tomatoes. Only fresh garden tomatoes. Ingredient list: tomatoes, garlic, basil, fresh mozarella cheese, olive oil and salt.

Solanum lycopersicum

Pesto

We’ve made pesto from our garden basil for maybe 20 years now. Always a slightly different mix of nuts, cheese, garlic, oil and basil. Sometimes we use the classic: pine nuts, sometimes walnuts. Sometimes only parmesan cheese, sometimes cheese mixtures.

For this batch the recipe was:
2 cups of pecans
2 cups of walnuts
2 heads of garlic
10 oz grated cheese blend: grana padano, asiago, pecorino, Romano, provolone
5 oz grated parmesan
1 liter extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste: maybe 2-3 Tbs
1 pile of basil

This recipe made 3 quarts of pesto. It’s a thick paste that we freeze in baggies or ice cube trays and slice off chucks as we need it. To serve, we dilute with warm water (pasta water) and olive oil. It keeps fine in the freezer until next year’s basil comes in.

Ocimum basilicum

Skippy's vegetable recipes