Re: [gardeners] Harvesting herbs

Jane Burdekin (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 12 Oct 1999 20:18:50 -0600 

Hi George,
My basil is long gone, we have had a snow already.  It has been nice
lately.  I picked a bunch of hot peppers yesterday, they were covered
during the snow.  The raspberries are producing like crazy.  I have been
raking leaves and I finally got the rest of those perennials planted
yesterday too.  I guess its about time.  I got the shed cleaned out last
weekend and I will be cleaning and oiling the garden equipment maybe next
weekend.  Just about end of the season for us in zone 5 Colorado.  

Jane 

> Yesterday I picked two 10-quart buckets of basil leaves and then
> discarded the old plants to the compost heap. Washed and dried the
> leaves and then made pesto. Ended up with 6 vacuum sealed bags of pesto,
> each should serve 4 persons. We like the old recipe out of the Betty
> Crocker cookbook. Two cups of tightly packed basil leaves, 3/4 cup olive
> oil, 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, two tablespoons pine nuts (I use
> walnuts as the pine nuts are very high in price around here, like 12 or
> 13 bucks a pound.), and two teaspoons of minced garlic. Run it through
> the food processor until you get the proper texture for your taste. We
> like the pesto cold on pasta or on a freshly baked pizza dough.
> 
> Today I harvest a 10-quart bucket of oregano, about half the edges of
> the bed so there's more for tomorrow. Washed it, ran it through the
> lettuce thingee that slings the water off, and packed 8 trays of the
> dehydrator. It will be dry in a few more hours and the stems will have
> the leaves stripped into the food grade plastic jugs to be used later.
> Tomorrow I will probably get the rest of the oregano in and do the same
> thing with it. And there's still the thyme to harvest!! Boy do these
> herbs do good in drought years. Looks like friends, relatives, and
> neighbors will get herbs for the holidays again. Good thing as most
> really like them.
> 
> The recently planted fall garden is looking good after our nice two-day
> rain. Miz Anne planted some more pansies this afternoon, rescued a full
> flat from the dumpster at K-Mart. Walked up just as the guy was tossing
> them. Looked okay to us so we asked for them and he said sure. She had
> to rip out a bunch of end-of-season zinnias and some torenias in full
> bloom to put the pansies in but they look nice. Most are some kind of
> pastel colors, either that or they're badly faded. I couldn't tell and
> Miz Anne has gone off to teach her leisure learning class at the
> university.
> 
> If it drys up enough to mow tomorrow the place will look right nice. Now
> if I can just get done with wiring the greenhouse and patching the hole
> in the carport ceiling where I ripped out the old fan we'll have this
> place looking good again. 
> 
> How does your garden grow?
> 
> George