I returned to my abandoned, neglected garden, not expecting to find much of anything, except crab grass. Instead, I found stalks of flat-leaf kale with a profusion of dark purplish leaves, (almost black!) beets that looked to be about the size of radishes, and an abundance of basil. Purple and green basil.
The last time I checked on these plants, I had left them in the middle of the Heatwave — and a drought that showed no signs of ending.
You wouldn’t believe these were the same plants — they’re green and growing like lush plants that have been cared for, and watered each day.
And they haven’t been.
This is why gardening is so rewarding… you just never know what will turn up. The peas, beans, spinach and zucchini are gone -that was inevitable.
I harvested everything except the beets. The sooner the better — maybe they’ll keep growing before the first frost.
Pesto was my first choice for the Basil — except there were no Walnuts and no Cheese in the pantry.
What to do?
I heated up some extra virgin olive oil, with sea salt, and fried the basil. DELICIOUS.
If only there was a tomato! All the cheeries were split and buggy. Instead, Â I served it with a plate of a plate of polenta.
I saved the rest to mix with Nastrutiums to make some pesto — after I get my hands on some cheese and walnuts.