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| Gluten-free pasta, pesto, and sweet red pepper |
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| Extreme close-up! |
This surfeit of green goodness is brought to you courtesy of the aforementioned garden beds, supplemented by pots of herbs in the porch window. Despite weeks of blazing heat and statewide drought conditions, my Very Small Garden is flourishing (by the grace of God and with the help of twice-daily watering).
This year's crops include collard, kale, and serrano peppers:
Basil, tarragon, thyme, flat-leaf parsley, and chives (plus spearmint, not shown):
And two varieties of tomato:
All punctuated by dianthus and bright marigolds:
And to top it off, backup basil and mint in the porch, plus rosemary awaiting transplantation:
I feel rich.
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What do you like to grow?
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*My pesto recipe is a very loose one, little changed from the version I first posted here: 4 parts packed fresh basil leaves, 2 parts finely grated fresh parmesan, and 2 parts olive oil, with walnuts (or pine nuts if the exchequer allows), crushed fresh garlic cloves, and salt to taste. Toss all ingredients into a blender and process to desired level of smoothness. I've recently started adding a tablespoon or two of hot pasta water to the blended sauce, which smooths out the flavor and seems to prevent oxidation.
