Harvest

One of my favourite things to use a big bowl of freshly grown basil for is pesto. It is the main reason I grow so much basil; I pick the leaves several times during the growing season and wash them, spin them dry in a lettuce spinner and freeze them in the proper amount for a pesto recipe. I know you can purchase pesto in a jar these days, but it isn't nearly as good (or as healthy) as home made. Plus pesto is a snap to make. I often make this on Fridays, in keeping with the tradition of meatless Fridays.

Pesto

2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano
Salt to taste (approx 1/2 tsp)

In food processer, blend all above ingredients except cheese and salt. When blended, mix in cheese by hand. Season to taste with salt. Serve on pasta with grilled Scallops.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 4 - 6 servings of pasta.

My Garden

One of my favourite hobbies (outside of blogging, reading Catholic books, playing tennis and exercising), is gardening. This is the second year for this garden, so it is still far from maturity. In addition, we lost a lot of plants last winter, so had to start over again with the banana tree and some of the ornamental grasses.


A Hosta I brought with me when we moved. It has grown incredibly in just one year.


Red Banana (not hardy, needs overwintering indoors)



This is my Bijon Shiitsu, hiding from the sun in my shade garden.



Oops, she found me! Probably gonna make me get out of here - after I dug it all up to find some nice cool earth to make my bed!



Lilies, one of my favourites for their vibrant colour and ease of growth.



The second summer for the fish pond.



A fuller view.



I never have to worry about watering these plants!



Saint Francis keeps the pond company, night and day.




Ornamental grasses surround the pond.




These are still young, just planted a few weeks ago. By next year, they should be matured and offer a better display.



There, I'm out of the garden. Where's my treat?

My Garden

Here are a few pictures of my back yard:


Before moving to the coast, I had never seen pink Hydrangeas before. This plant was close to dead when we bought the house, but a lot of Miracle Grow and a green thumb did wonders for it!

There was no landscaping when we moved in; just lawn.


Grass is nice, but it's also pretty boring, so we put a pond in. (unless it's ornamental grass, like what I planted around the pond)


And here it is, a few months later, already matured to something very beautiful

Aquatic gardening

We have been busy putting a pond in the back yard, but now it's all done and it's time to sit back and enjoy the show!


Water gardening is new to me, and it took some getting used to, to wash the soil from the roots and plant the aquatic plants right in the water.


The plants need a bed of gravel for the roots to rest on, then we placed larger rocks around the plants to keep them in place, and gave each plant a fertilizer stick for nutrition.


The reflection in the water is that of the banana tree on the right, and the bamboo tree on the left.


The view from the deck


And from the upper deck off the kitchen


St Anthony stands guard in front of the banana tree, overlooking the pond.


The overall shape of the pond.


It takes about two years for the pond and plants to mature and look natural, but this is a beautiful start! The fish went in today, and if the herons and raccoons don't get them, they will provide an interesting element to the pond. I think it will be a wonderful and peaceful place to pray the rosary.

Busy, busy!

I have been delinquent about posting these last few days, but I have a very good reason. The weather has been great, and it's gardening season! I have been busy making up hanging baskets and flower pot displays. When they start to bloom, I will post pictures, as they should be very beautiful. I also bought a fuschia standard, which is a fuschia trained to be a small tree. It's the dark purple variety with red contrast. In the next few weeks, we are putting a pond and waterfall in the back yard. The climate here is quite temperate, so the backyard will host a banana tree (non edible) and a palm tree that will help to shade the pond. I have a statue of St. Anthony that is meant for a garden, and he will watch over things while they grow. Did I ever mention I love gardening?

Full Bloom

More of my garden , my main hobby (outside of blogging, of course)

Yellow lilies, just starting to bloom.


I can't remember the name of this, but I do remember planting it. I think.


This pink bush is a Tamarisk, very lovely. It's young still, but will get quite large.


These purple flowers are volunteers that I decided to leave, just to see what they would turn out like. Can anyone identify them? Foxglove?


Red Astilbe, one of my favourites for low maintenance.

I do have a life!

Here's proof that I really do have a hobby outside of blogging! As you can see, I'm a fan of both lilies and subtle colours.

Take one