How to Dry Basil

Our basil plant produced more than I could have ever used in 10 lifetimes.  Plus, Matt doesn't really like it unless it's in pasta.  We don't really eat pasta in the summer, so it's pretty much all on me.  So, instead of wasting so much, I decided to dry it

I pulled off any leaves I normally wouldn't eat, even though they would probably be fine

You can bunch them together, but you need to be careful to allow plenty of room for air to circulate.  Most of them I tied like the one on the right.  I just found a Y and knotted around that

Then just start de-stemming. Mostly I could do this with my fingers.  I did use a scissors here and there.  Prepare for the room and fingers to smell like heaven

I work at a company that sells labeling machines.  We get all sorts of samples from companies wanting to buy our machines.  Some we ship back, but most we get to keep.  I snagged these little 9 oz glass jars for this.

I just used my spice/coffee grinder to dice them

I knew it wouldn't make a ton, but I can't believe my HUGE basil plant made less than one jar.  So much for hostess gifts of garden dried basil...oh well, at least it didn't go to waste.

What is this??? Update! It's a Goblin Egg Gourd

We have this vine that self-planted along the fence by the greenhouse.  At first we thought it was pumpkin, but we didn't plant pumpkin this year, where and how did it seed?  These are definitely squash blossoms

Then the fruit started to come in and we were just mystified at what this was.  (Sorry for the blurry photo)

Then we saw this and knew exactly what it was.  Last year, Matt found a million of these along the riverbank where he hunts.  He brought one home, we cut it open.  It was a squash, you could tell by the seeds, but they only get about as big a golf ball and they are hard as a rock.  That means, Matt threw it out back and it grew from that- crazy.

You can see where it began to grow.  It sprouted out of the gravel and Matt tied it up along the fence with string to see what it would do.

Here is one cut open.  This one is way under ripe, when we get a ripe one, I'll taste it and see what it is.  I tried just a lick of this one and it was the most bitter, awful thing I've ever tasted.  I told Matt to take me to the hospital if I collapsed, I felt like I had been poisoned.  I could not get the taste out of my mouth to save my life.  It was horrible.  So, we'll wait for a ripe one and I'll subject myself again....

They are Goblin Egg Gourds!  Thanks Uncle Don and Katie-  now what to do with them all....

Home....

We came to an overgrown garden.    We were lucky it was alive after 10 days of 100+ degree weather.  The neighbor boy did a great job watering it and taking care of our mutts

Little more than knee high....

Our cucumber trellis is working great!

However, with us gone and not able to keep on top of the zucchini in the cages, we came home to this...

We had to cut it out.  But Matt decided the cages weren't working, so he took them all out and put them back on stakes

Melons

Beans

The whole back wall of our garden is tomatoes that seeded themselves around the garden, Matt moved them back along the wall.  They are kind of rebels that do their own thing.

We arrived home to a birthday box from Grandma & Grandpa Divine that kept Charlie occupied the entire time we unpacked, it was awesome.

Back to our own beds

Home!

Cucumber Trellis Thing-y

Picnic dinner outside so we could hang out with daddy

Matt is going to try to get the cucumbers to grow up to a) have a more efficient use of limited space and b) get them off the ground which leads to rot and bugs

Charlie inspects and approves the structure

boog

dad...dad...dad...dad....dad

Stalling on the way back to the house for bath time....

Where's Charlie???? (his favorite game ever)

Garden Update

Our attempt at keeping the critters out since last year we pretty much ran a squirrel and bird food bank

First Tomato (it was delicious, I ate it on the spot)

Matt's attempt at vertical zucchini growing, we'll see how it goes, I think it's genius

The peas are doing terrible, but as you can see, our bean carousel-y thingy is going very well.  Matt is so darn handy.  If you think for a moment I had a hand in any of this, think again

Corn

uhhh......

Shadow and Charlie

Our dog Shadow is struggling with some arthritis. It is getting better and he is on lots of doggy drugs, but it's just hard for him to get around.

We've had problems with him going to the bathroom on the patio. I think the unevenness of the yard hurts his leg. It's annoying, but it's not his fault. We've gotten him to go right off the patio in the yard. It's not ideal, but it's in the grass. We still have some patio issues, but he's trying.

Charlie has just started tormenting these old dogs. He runs after them and as soon as they get comfortable, he's all over them.

Well, Shadow went out in the yard, right off the patio and lifted his leg and Charlie walked right into it. Dog urine...all over my kid. One of those glamorous, parent-of-the-year moments. He looked at me covered in dog pee and shook his head and waved his arms like 'what is this all over me?' Well Charlie, stop tormenting the dogs!! So, I dragged him inside and washed him off, changed his clothes, washed his shoes which took the brunt of the hit and played in the living room for the rest of the night.

Our nightly routine is that Charlie gets fed, we grab some water and head out to the back to play and let the dogs out. I sit on a deck chair or pull him in his wagon. We play with the dogs and check out the strawberry patch and the birdfeeder.

The very next day after the first incident, we let the dogs out. I stepped back inside to grab something from the laundry room and Shadow didn't make it off the patio, he must have been dying. I come out and Charlie is playing in it like it was a puddle.  Slapping his hands in it to see it splash, kneeling in it and all.  I FREAK and pull him out of it.  I get the hose out to get a quick wash down just to get it off of him immediately and proceed to hose down the patio.  Well, Charlie wanted to play with the hose and I figured, the kids been covered in dog pee for two days straight, what the heck.  It was warm, so I let him soak himself with the hose before taking him for a formal disinfecting. 

We'll laugh at these moments in the future right???


You can see how the front of him is soaked...

 


while the back is completely dry



I would like to say that our patio doesn't always look like this, but it always looks like this.  I line the chairs up and stack his toys away and the very next day, Charlie has rearranged the entire thing.  'it's not messy, my kids are making memories' right Pinterest?

This one is funny because I was playing with the water pressure. He knew I had something to do with it, but just couldn't figure it out

And while we in our back yard, check out the rose bush!  When they start to die, Matt clips them and seriously, the next day, there are 20 blooms to replace them.  Just beautiful.  Bridgette and I have been waking up to roses on our side tables, what a great way to wake up