Italian Basil.
Thai Basil.
This is my favorite basil and one I would plant its own patch of as I use it often in what I call "Noodle Bowl". NB is a combination of any veggies, wheat gluten or tofu, some kind of soba or rice noodle with a little broth, cilantro and Sriracha sauce. It has a black licorice flavor. Yum.
Ruffled or Lettuce Leaf Basil.
This one would be good as a stuffing basil.
Lemon Basil.
Bush Basil. (centered)
This one is nice because you don't have to chop it before adding it into a recipe as the leaves are already small. It would be a good one for a small garden, a pot or even a decorative edging (if you're into that sort of thing).
Holy Basil.
This one is not in my basil patch. A friend gave me a plant several years ago and it reseeds and returns in random places each year. I haven't actually cooked with it. I both love and hate the smell of it. I can't put my finger on it, but it makes me sneeze sometimes. It smells like sickening sweet candy. Kind of.
HARVEST
I harvested my first potatoes of the season today. It looks like it will be a small harvest. I'm wondering if maybe that has something to do with getting my seed potatoes from the northeast. I need to find a midwestern source. I'm not giving up though. I've been trying to figure out what fruit or veg will provide the most food per square foot and I think this may be on the top of the list. So, what you're looking at here are Adirondack Red and Green Mountain. The reds are really pretty and the Green Mountain are really white.
The only other thing worthy of mentioning is I'm going to try some late summer crops that I haven't attempted before. I'm going to sew more summer squash and zucchini (started in a pot last night), bush beans (soaked in a cup of water today) and some cucumbers. I also planted some brussel sprout seeds last night too (in pots). I ordered some seeds for the fall garden from Pinetree Garden Seeds. I read yesterday about growing chicken feed and my girls love kale in the winter so I thought I'd plant them some winter wheat and kale in the orchard for them. Once I harvest the potatoes I will plant the wheat and kale there. It is chicken-wired already so until the kale gets big enough I can keep the wire up and once the wheat goes to seed I can open it up to them too. The wheat will double as a green manure as well.
I'll leave you with some baby melon progress- cantaloupe and mini-watermelons.
Cantaloupe
Pony Yellow melon.
2 comments:
Well, yes, once again that friend is me :) as the giver of the Holy Basil. Dont tell the girls , but I made a Holy Basil chicken that was really good. It does have a sweet basil flavor, which is probably why you dont like it, Ms. Savory!! You should test is out in a fruit salad or a Lemon Basil martini. Just some ideas.
ha ha. I would never tear it out. 1) because it came from you and 2) because, on occasion, I like the smell of it. It is the weirdest thing! I can't wrap my head around that smell. How about basil brownies? I think I could do that!
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