I'm lucky I have a balcony at my apartment. I started gardening because I love fresh vegetables and fruit, but I can't eat them before they go bad when I buy them at the store. An added benefit is that it is way cheaper and influences me to learn to cook.
I have been growing basil, tomatoes, peas, and lettuce this summer. They were all grown from seeds. The basil, tomatoes, and lettuce have done incredibly well on my balcony. There are no pests and it must be the perfect temperature because the tomato plant has tons of flowers and small tomatoes! The only job I have is to water -- which I sometimes forget to do :( Still, I already have a great harvest.
I have been growing basil, tomatoes, peas, and lettuce this summer. They were all grown from seeds. The basil, tomatoes, and lettuce have done incredibly well on my balcony. There are no pests and it must be the perfect temperature because the tomato plant has tons of flowers and small tomatoes! The only job I have is to water -- which I sometimes forget to do :( Still, I already have a great harvest.
Pesto Recipe
My garden is yielding so much basil. I love pesto sauce. It is great on cold or hot pasta. However, it is incredibly expensive to purchase at the store, so I decided to make my own to use up some of my basil. I found this pesto recipe here. You have a choice for some of the ingredients. The following is what I used.
Ingredients:
2 cups of basil - I freshly picked the basil needed from my garden.
1/2 cup of dried Romano powdered cheese
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup of walnuts - They are cheaper than pine nuts!
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Also, the recipe suggests using a food processor. Instead, I used my Vitamix blender, and the pesto sauce came out the perfect consistency. The recipe yielded more than I expected. I am going to freeze the extra pesto sauce in a tiny, ice cube tray.
I think I'll also package some up as a small gift for my mother and my boyfriend's mother!
 |
| My Basil Plant - Even After Taking 2 Cups of Leaves! |
My garden is yielding so much basil. I love pesto sauce. It is great on cold or hot pasta. However, it is incredibly expensive to purchase at the store, so I decided to make my own to use up some of my basil. I found this pesto recipe here. You have a choice for some of the ingredients. The following is what I used.
Ingredients:
2 cups of basil - I freshly picked the basil needed from my garden.
1/2 cup of dried Romano powdered cheese
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup of walnuts - They are cheaper than pine nuts!
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Also, the recipe suggests using a food processor. Instead, I used my Vitamix blender, and the pesto sauce came out the perfect consistency. The recipe yielded more than I expected. I am going to freeze the extra pesto sauce in a tiny, ice cube tray.
 |
| Tiny Ice Cube Tray |
I think I'll also package some up as a small gift for my mother and my boyfriend's mother!
 |
| Finished Pesto Sauce! |
No comments :
Post a Comment