Ah, summer. Finally! After seemingly endless months of teasing, Mother Nature has granted us sunshine. In the Pacific Northwest, that isn’t a very long time, so I don’t bother to do much of a garden. Well, okay. Fine! So that’s just a convenient excuse. 🙂
I usually start out with great intentions for an honest-to-goodness garden I can be proud of, and I even put the plants in myself. With gloved hands, of course. (Dirt — ICK!) But, see, that’s when the problem starts. The plants grow. And they get too demanding. (Guess they don’t care I’m a writer, either! – Sniff) They want to be watered and fertilized. Then weeds sprout and have to be pulled. And Ohmigod, the SLUGS! They’re just GROSS! (I swear the six-inch sucker I saw the other day had me screaming. *Shudder* Which would’ve been acceptable if it was later than 6 a.m.)
This summer, I vowed, would be different. Not only would I enjoy the sunshine and all the great outdoor activities, but this summer, I’d also plant something edible, and let it grow enough to be consumed.
With that in mind, I put some basil plants in a pot. (Hey, herbs count, don’t they?) I watered them, laid a slug bait barrier down, and the stinking things actually grew! (Funny how that works.) After a blast of warm weather, the basil was ready to be made into my version of Pesto. Yum!
I took this:
Fresh out of the garden. (The kitchen smelled fab!)
Blended it with olive oil and other stuff:
Turned it into this:
Then put it on baked cod like this:
Yumminess on a plate!
I also figured it was about time I fed my family a meal that didn’t come in a can! (Don’t get used to it!)
Okay, dinner’s over. Back to work.
-Melia
I can almost smell the fresh Basil 🙂 looks delicious!
Looks delicious! Good for you 🙂
Way to go!!
Oh, it was soooo good! Definitely worth the effort! ‘Course, I say that NOW. 🙂
-Melia
Thank you! And thanks for stopping by!
-Melia
Thanks, Krystal. They’re still growing so I might even do this again! Just gotta remember to keep watering them. . ..
-Melia
Yummy and thanks for sharing. Ugh, I don’t like slugs either!
LOL, Ashlyn! Glad to know I’m not the only one. 🙂
Happy writing,
Melia
Looks wonderful. I’ve had a small herb garden for years, but two years ago I planted a small vegetable garden outside my office window, so when I wanted to break from writing I gaze on my wonderful little greenlings. I planted yellow squash (took off like a shot, but only produced about a half-dozen squash), tomatoes (three big buckets with wonderful plastic ladders for the plants to grow up–all leaves, no plants during summer, but the one I moved indoors and kept in my office all winter finally produced one small tomato in February–yep, no lie), white and red potatoes (luckily, I like new potatoes best, because none grew very big), and tons of green onions (my husband’s favorite). Everything else bit the dust, despite the fact that I went out every day to water–even in the thermometer reached triple digits for two months straight. Still have the herb garden–rosemary, sage, mint, and basil continue to keep a hardy presence, and I think I’ll just leave it at that.
But I am going to try your fish recipe. The photo look delicious.
Joanie
Are you serious, Joanie? All that work and some of them either gave you nothing or croaked? So not fair! Good to know the herb garden’s going strong. Looks like I chose well, huh? 🙂 One of these years I’m going to do a few more things. Maybe.
Thanks for stopping by, and happy writing,
Melia