harvesting herbs, making pesto, lantern update

Today was a big herb harvest day. I harvested enough basil (to keep it from blooming) to make pesto that my mom is going to take to her boss. I seem to have reached the point where I have enough basil plants that I can make pesto when I want to. And, I have more basil plants that are growing up from seed as I type. The cilantro I bought as a transplant is growing some but it is also flowering. I cut off all the feathery flowering parts and hopefully the cilantro will continue to do okay. I really need to get some cilantro seeds and sow them in a pot, as my cilantro is ready but the tomatos aren't, and I only got it to make salsa.

Here is the pesto recipe I used. When I make it for myself, I sometimes put in 3 cloves of garlic:

2 c loosely packed basil leaves
3 tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c Italian cheese

Process all but olive oil and cheese until chopped, then add oil while blender is running. Add cheese last and process until mixed in but not a totally smooth paste


Speaking of salsa, I have some more jalapenos ready for harvest, as well as a cayenne and several of the Thai hots. I will need to find a good recipe using peppers and I'll make that this weekend. I think the peppers will be okay to leave on the plant until then. I found another immature yellow bell pepper that had been attacked by insects and had to be throw out today. The plant still have 3 other peppers that are growing. I am hoping that I will get a few bell peppers. A co-worker who is growing her bell peppers in the ground has already harvested some green bell peppers. I have one yellow bell pepper that looks full size, but it is still definitely still green. So, unless the plant was mislabeled, it still have some more ripening to do.

We got a lot of rain on Monday, pretty much all night, so I didn't water any of the shrubs today. The flowers and potted plants all seem to be doing okay. I need to try to find some flower I want to put in where I still have pansies in the ground. I am thinking I'll just end up putting in some impatiens. I also have to find a time when it is cool enough that I WANT to mess around with digging up the pansies and digging in something else. The snapdragons back there are also looking not so great. Not sure if I should cut them back, dig them up or what. I'll have to ask around at work or at the nursery when I go.

My Chinese lanterns that I started from seed back in February are now blooming and I've found baby lanterns on several of them. I think I still have about 9 pots of them. I've given several away and lost one when it fell off the porch. I saw actual baby lanterns on 3 of the plants in the back yard along the fence line. I don't think I've seen flowers or baby lanterns on the plant that is on the porch. It doesn't get quite as much sun as the others.

Operation grass grow is still going okay. I'm watering regularly and I saw that some grass has sprouted in the new area I am trying to water in as well. Hopefully as long as I keep watering regularly it will make it until the fall, then I can seed in the area some more and maybe next year I'll actually have decent grass in that area. I am currently planning on working on overseeding my front lawn this fall. There are some bare patches and just some not good parts.