Jude and I have had fun with our little garden, and he thinks it’s tons of fun to use a watering can. Especially when he can stay in his jammies!:) Our garden is a humble little mix of a few scraggly vegetables that made it against the rocky soiled odds, and next year we will be getting a deep layer of top soil to raise up the bed and give our plants more room to spread their roots before hitting the rock laden soil below. But this year, well, this year we learned that we have to plant the tomatoes on the opposite side if we want them to produce before Christmas, and that seeds need about twice the amount of water I like to give them to actually come up! All very useful info we’ll tuck away for next year!

We had delicious green beans though, a few tiny radishes, and some great lettuce. Andrew’s potato is doing well and some flowers are starting to bloom. We got about a cupful of our own yummy basil and then a bunch from two other friends who actually know how to garden and made the most amazing pesto… super easy, I’ll post the recipe below in case you have an abundance of basil or know someone who does and wants to share! I froze mine in about 1/2 cupfuls, and plan to mix them with an Alfredo type sauce in the winter months.

Garden Pesto

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup plus a few spoonfuls olive oil
1 Tbs very soft butter (or you can use all olive oil if you like!)
1/3 cup walnuts or pine nuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all in a food processor (my handy magic bullet does the trick quite nicely) and process until desired smoothness, adding less or more olive oil as needed. Serve over pasta, baked potato, combined with a cream sauce, or spread on sliced bread. Freeze portions to have handy for cooler months if desired. I prepare 2 or more batches at a time so I have plenty.

Anyone else have gardening adventures theywould like to share?

Update on Andrew and the team in China- everyone is doing well, working hard through the heat and humidity, and loving on the kids at the orphanage with all their hearts. They have tried some unusual foods including donkey and scorpian! They have only a couple days left and I am so excited to see pictures and hear what else happened during their outreach!