Garden Surprises

I haven't been giving my garden much attention.  Here, or on the ground, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been busy without me.  Look at all that basil!

I pulled all the leaves off of one of the two plants, and brought them in the house in order to encourage myself to make some pesto.  After all the pesto I made last year, I was surprised to find out that we are completely out just in time to make some more, which means we eat a lot of pesto if we have it.  

This year I poured half a bag of walnuts in the food processor, and then put in several large handfuls of garlic, which I grew out at the farm, poured in some olive oil and whirred it to mush.  Then I threw in some Parmesan cheese and all of the basil from that big plant in the top photo.  Once it was all blended together, I give Jame and Brandon both small bites and enjoyed their hoots and expressions when all that strong garlic and basil hit their sinuses.  Ha!  Despite the strong flavor, I'm happy to report that the pizza we made with the basil was delicious.  This has encouraged me to turn the other plant into pesto as well.       

The chard gets the gold star for the most prolific garden plant this year.  I feel like the more leaves I pull off to eat, the quicker it makes more leaves.  It's amazing that so few plants can make so much green food.  The carrots in the foreground of the photo above have been in the ground since the spring, which makes me think they will be tough and bitter.  One of these days I'm going to pull them up and eat one, but mostly I've just picked off the green leaves and added them to our green juice and green smoothies.  Apparently, the carrot leaves are just as healthy as the root, and like the chard, the more I pick off, the more leaves the carrots make.  

The beans on the bean tepee are finished, and as the pods turn brown I bring them in the house to continue to dry.  I didn't eat many of these beans this summer, but I have enough saved that I can plant even more next year.  I plan to save more zinnia seeds too, since I've really enjoyed having the flowers scattered though the garden beds.  

Wait, whats that yellow I see!  I had no idea the summer squash were still doing stuff, and was very surprised to find a giant zucchini and three yellow summer squash.  

I love it when I find unexpected edibles.  It's like a have bonus foods!

For some reason, Mrs. Hall has decided that she prefers the top of the tomato cages for roosting now.  This is nice for fertilizer deposition, but what's wrong with the coop?  

Did I plant okra?  Obviously that weedy rectangle in the corner of the garden I've been ignoring all summer was supposed to be an okra patch, and now that the pods are old and turning yellow I can see them in the weeds.  I really should learn to take garden notes.  

The tomatoes have stopped getting ripe, but there are still green ones hanging on the vine.  I have several recipes for using green tomatoes, and I like them fried in a skillet too.  

My onions get the gold star for worst performing garden plant this year.  Other than some small green onions, most of them just disappeared into the parsley forest.  I think I didn't observe the rules of companion planting or appropriate spacing, and my onion harvest suffered for it.  The parsley is  doing great though.  Just when I thought the garden was done, it surprises me.