Monday, September 28, 2009

more basil harvested

second basil harvest

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.

9 comments:

Dan said...

That is one hefty basil harvest!

Michelle @ Give a Girl a Fig said...

WOW! That is amazing! And Skippy looks so proud of his accomplishments in the garden...

kathy said...

Skippy knows a photo op when he sees one.

Thomas said...

Wow Kathy, that is a bumper crop. Also, on a side note, you must have great lighting in your home as I struggle to get a clear picture in doors (I hate using flash and avoid it at all cost.) Do you use a tripod? I think I need to get one.

Quilt Works said...

I enjoyed visiting, so much good info here. Your crop looks terrific, and your little help is adorable :-)
Maybe you will have an answer to my gardening question. In my garden, for some reason, I have a bunch of new strawberries growing. This is my first year growing them, and I did not expect to have ny at the end of September...but not only do I have flowers and berries, they are the most delicious of the year. Just very flavoful, maybe because the cold nights concentrate the sugars? I have no idea. But I am totally stoked with my strawberry garden!

I live in Massachusetts, is it normal to have strawberries this late? Or is it because I had no established plants, and the baby plants matured later than normal?
http://quilt--works.blogspot.com/

kathy said...

Thomas, No tripod. Very good lighting in the kitchen. For photos and cooking I turn them all on. Like you I avoid flash. I use Photoshop to reduce shadows a bit (to get Skippy to look like more than a black shadow) and to tone down yellowness.

And about those strawberries, I think it may be the variety. Varieties called everbearing actually produce a spring and a fall crop. With the wet cool summer, they may be very healthy and happy to produce their fall crop. Lucky you!

alice said...

Skippy's a good sized dog, so he gives perspective to your bucket full of basil. How do you store it for long term use?

Matron said...

That is an amazing expression on Skippy's face!

kathy said...

Skippy's expression is saying "OK, this is what you want me to do - get the photo done quick and get me my the treat!" The cool thing was he volunteered. He saw this photo op coming before I asked him to sit.

Alice, the basil gets stored mostly as frozen pesto, but also some as just basil pureed in oil and frozen in baggies. The nice thing about this year's harvest is that the leaves were all very nice quality. After processing, it made a lot.