Well, what a week of wind and a bit of rain and sun too. The wind evaporated all the rain up within a short time so everything's really dry. Even the rain that was meant to come today didn't.
Ok, so harvest-wise there's still been a good amount of chard going into dishes like - poached eggs on toast with chard, pie and greens, and this one - a sort of curry with quinoa.
And this one last night, which was a curry.
Earlier in the week I pinched-out he tops of most of my basil plants (so that they bush out) and got lots of nice leaves (purple and green)
It was enough to make a pesto, so I whizzed up the leaves with some toasted walnuts (pine nuts are too expensive) and my own garlic lifted last week, plus a big glug of olive oil. I don't put cheese in but instead add that to what ever dish / sandwiches instead if needed.
One of our pesto meals was this - scrambled eggs with a couple of big tablespoons added. It was so good!
We also had it in sarnies a couple of times, yummy
The other fun harvest has been strawberries. Each day there's been more to pick, these photos are all building up through the week...(If you read last Monday's post, I picked my first two that day,)
These were today in my lunch break, a nice haul. And actually when I went down tonight I could've picked more. Summer must be here at last!
I'm weighing these as I go along just out of interest and will report anything of note. I don't usually weigh my crops but I think I will for most of my fruit this year and maybe beans. We'll see!
Linking in with Harvest Monday on Daphne's dandelions
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Those strawberries look fabulous. But I'm jealous of the basil. I planted basil in three spots this year to thwart the basil downy mildew. So far I've had to pull two of those. I hope I get basil this year. I guess though that it is early enough to try again.
ReplyDeleteThanks Daphne, hmm I haven't heard of basil downy mildew, I don't know if we get that over here, hopefully not! Sorry to hear yours has suffered. Yep def worth another go. I've sown some more tonight.
DeleteI had to re-sow my Basil as the first batch got hit with a fatal leaf-spot disease and all keeled over. I like to crop them several times during the year, to make pesto which I then freeze in ice-cube trays for use throughout the Winter to liven-up soups ands stew and Ragu. I'm not sure about Summer being here now - it is still blooming chilly at night-time, and many of the days have been cold grey and windy.
ReplyDeleteOh dear Mark, more basil problems. I've not seen leaf spot in basil before. I think I've been lucky. Some of the ones I pinch-out don't thrive but sort of limp on a bit, but there's enough that it doesn't matter.
DeleteOh yes, also I retract my summer statement....it's been absolutely autumnal today, brrr.
DeleteOur strawberries are just turning a pale pink. I hope this week's sunshine hurries them along.
ReplyDeleteOh...I just hate that - when you are supposed to get rain and then it either doesn't show up or you only get a few drops.
ReplyDeleteI use walnuts in my pesto too - as you say, pine nuts are really expensive and I just love their taste so much. I would rather snack on them (sparingly!) or use them in dishes where you can really enjoy their flavour (like sprinkled on a salad) rather than have it almost disappear in a pesto. And those strawberries look Yum Yum Yum! Looks like I'll be picking some strawberries today too - hip hip hurray!
Yep, it's still bone dry on the plot at the moment Margaret. I had to swap my day-off this week so will go and water first thing tomorrow as am not at work. We're due rainstorms later in the eve so hopefully I'll moisten the soil enough so the rain doesn't just all run off.
DeleteMmm, yes pine nuts are really tasty, that's a good point to use them in dishes where they can be appreciated more. Ooh I wonder if you got one strawbs...hope so! I'll take a visit over yours too :)