Having a yard and space to garden this year turned out great. Not only for allowing Luca to run about but also for growing our own veggies and herbs. I kept things pretty simple since this was my first time trying to grow much of anything.
Basil:
The mint must have been planted by the previous tenants but it has grown incredibly through the summer.
The other things we tried:
Basil
Tomatoes
Parsley
Rosemary
All of the above worked beautifully except the parsley, which died when we had massive rain.
We have enjoyed some amazing salads with our own herbs and tomatoes. I have had enough to give away bundles when people come to eat with us. Some of our favorite ways to use them include:
- adding a few leaves of basil and mint to your basic lettuce salads
- making tomato basil pie
- encrusting lamb or chicken with some olive oil and the basil, mint, and rosemary
- chopping up the mint and basil and putting them into plastic baggies separately - then adding some olive oil and freezing the baggies so that we have our fresh herbs through the winter
- making pesto
- making mozzarella caprese salads
- making a corn salad with basil added
- cooked potatoes with butter and olive oil and mint
- couscous salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, mint
My basil seemed anemic this year. My Rosemary was gorgeous, just like yours. My peppermint is still hanging in there and both of my oregano plants are fine. My strawberries were a HUGE bust this year, but they flowered up nicely. I don't know what happened. We skipped tomatoes, mainly because last year ours exploded (lol) and split before they were ripe and we don't really eat a lot of tomatoes, but neighbors had a good tomato harvest so I regret that choice. Next year I want to try beans. Oh! And I grew two of the loveliest lavender plants this year. I am thinking about drying out the lavender and stuffing it inside of some hand stitched sleep masks. I don't really know what else to do with it. ha!
ReplyDeleteThyme is a really easy herb to grow that we use a lot in our cooking.
ReplyDeleteSome good veggies: cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, hot or sweet peppers, eggplant, lettuce, carrots, beets, bok choy, spinach, kale, etc. It all depends on what you like to eat.