So we have happened upon another discovery birthed from a complete accident.  Let me explain …

I had always been under the assumption that you harvested basil at the end of the gardening season, mostly in a panic, right as the first frost was banging on your front door.  At least, this is how my family always did it.  A few years ago I did just this and was sadly disappointed as my giant basil leaves produced some of the most bitter pesto I had ever eaten.  Not to waste a thing, I ate every last bitter bite … for the next 4 months.

Then, finally, this year I caught onto the fact that perhaps I didn’t have to wait until the last basil pickin’ minute and just make pesto here and again.  So I did.  But not enough.

Now, with predicted temperatures in the 30’s this weekend, my Basil Panic Alarm started to ring and we harvested a few bunches tonight.  Picking through we again realized that we were faced with massive plants filled with bitter leaves.  All of those beautifully fragrant flowers that the honeybees so love?  The signpost to astringent tasting basil.  But wait!  I have an idea …

This year we have eaten more swiss chard than our children have liked.  If you were to eat The Chard straight from the garden, the bitterness might make your eyes cross.  But blanch it, saute it with some garlic, olive oil, and sea salt and it will make your eyes roll to the back of your head … a much more culinary agreeable experience.  So what if we blanch the bitter basil?

BINGO!  An entire crop saved!  Here’s how:

Dip the leaves into boiling water … 30 seconds tops

Plunge into an ice bath

Whip about in the salad spinner to remove the excess water

Throw into the food processor with olive oil, garlic, pinch of sea salt, REALLY good pecorino cheese (grated) and toasted pine nuts.

Then, just sit and wait for your eyes to roll back to the front of your head.

Tags: basil, bitter, cooking, frost, Gardening, Italian, pesto, recipe, saved crop, swiss chard

And into the next season we pass … from spring into fall…

I know that I owe y’all many an update. Here is a summary:
1. The Koi kicked. All of them. We have no idea what happened but suspect that Koi fish from PetSmart (the national pet store chain) are not exactly built to live in outdoor ponds, and might not be actual KOI fish. More research has to occur, but in the meantime, we have a stellar frog pond now. And we don’t really have to worry about how to winterize anymore. Check that accident off of the list.

2. Tomato crop: done. I canned maybe 2 quarts of tomatoes from our own stock. And this is from over 200 tomato plants that were put into the ground. Instead I discovered that the local commercial farm was selling their tomatoes in bulk (25 lbs. for $12.00) and bought 3 boxes so we can still have fresh tomato sauce in February. It took a while, but I finished canning yesterday and am only partially deaf from the blasting of the pressure canner.

Today I had the space and time to rip out the dead/dying/decayed plants that were left in the ground.  Know what I found in the graveyard of blight ridden tomato plants?  HUMONGOUS basil plants!  Not that I didn’t know that they were there, but my eyes always landed on the sadness of death as opposed to rejoicing in the bountiful life.  There’s a message in that there last sentence for me … if only I could figure out what it is …

3. Our carrots kick ass! Until this year I had been completely unsuccessful trying to grow some. I had even recently been lamenting to a friend about how I had once again failed. Guess I should actually harvest something before I curse it. The only sad truth is that in my lack of faith, I failed to get in a new crop for fall… I think. I might try anyway. Yay us!

4. The new flock has started to lay! This is quite exciting news as I have picked up a steady 6 doz. egg orders a week from my summer customers and school started, which means an additional 6+ dozen to supply. Hurry up Ladies and squeeze those cheeks together!

5. And the biggest news: we sent our baby off to Kindergarten.  There was much drama around her riding the bus this year since it seemed as if there would be a 2 hour ride (1 hour each way).  Combine this with the fact that she sobbed every day for the last 3 weeks of school, last year, whenever I left her.  I think I started my Back To School drinking in August.

The morning of the first bus ride, she was prepared.  New clothes, new supplies, and new words of warning (”Do NOT take anything OUT of your backpack on the bus! Be sure to bring home everything that you bring to school because I will not be there to collect your stuff.  Pay attention to which bus to get on.”)

With her new big girl sandals (they have a slight wedge… VERY important) and a smile on her face, she marched down the driveway, up the steps of the bus and right out of our arms.

Brian and I were a little sad and nostalgic.  She was a big kid now.  There were going to be hours upon hours of my day that would go on without her, and hers without me.  My place in her world would be background to her friends and her passions.  We were excited for her, but still a little sad.

Well, not ALL of us were a little sad…

The DEW (as she has come to be known because her way of cursing you is throwing her arm at you and yelling, “DEW”! Her own personal version of the infamous Stink Eye.) is simply thrilled to be in the spotlight of Mom and Dad’s attentions. Oh yeah, that picture says it all.

With only 1 child to entertain, I quickly got to the business of farmin’.  This was pepper day.  I had purchased about 16 pounds of red peppers and it was time to get cleaning, roasting and transforming them into Italian roasted red peppers with olive oil and garlic.

Shannon, Rowan and Willow came to help and Dad popped in and out to point out where my technique could use some improvement.  After a while, Shannon took her kids home to nap, Dad took off to can his own peppers and Merry went to sleep.  I sat in the back yard with the dogs at my feel, listening to the breeze and the birds playing above my head and made peppers for 2 hours.  It was Heaven.

Around four o’clock my family started to show up again.  It was time for Parker to get off of the bus.  And this time there would be a parade.

Mom broke out the musical instruments, Merry and Willow donned their best dress up and Shannon ran about with the video camera.  Me?  It was a special occasion so I made sure to get a bug in my eye on the walk down the driveway.  This way when the film comes out it looks like I’m all soft and sentimental.  Nope, bug in the eye.

My baby is now a big girl.  She loved her first day of school… and her second … and her third.  She told me this morning that riding the bus is her favorite part of the day.  I guess raising kids isn’t much different than farming.  In the end, all the planning and worrying that you do just ends up being another way to avoid letting go of the fact that we truly have no control.  We can try as hard as we might, what will be will be.

But how do you stop worrying when they tell you that they’ve forgotten their pants at school?

Tags: blight, carrots, Chickens, Dad, frog, Gardening, Italian, Koi, peppers, roasted red, school, tomato plants, tomatoes