Garden balcony update

Hello! Summer is flying by and as you can probably tell by my lack of posts, I've been swamped getting ready for a full round of fall craft shows. I thought I would check in with everyone with a small garden update. Let me say, I'm pleased as punch.

1. The Corn

The ears are still a bit small, but growing away.

2. The Basil
After our latest harvest of 22 cups, the boy's new dream is to be a basil farmer. This is all from one window box! It quickly became pesto that should last us through the winter.

Pesto
3 cups basil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
Throw all in the blender and puree. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Jalapenos
We've harvested one jalapeno so far, but after the short heat wave we had a few weeks back many more have sprouted. There are now about seven or eight coming along.

Stay tuned for another cucumber soup recipe — it's chillin' in the frig right now, so I'll post it when I can. If it's not before the weekend, cheers and have a great Labor Day!

Balcony garden update…

As promised, here is a brief balcony garden update:

Basil. It grows leaps and bounds every hour. The boy has found his calling: basil farmer. Acres and acres of basil. Imagine the amazing smell wafting in the breeze. We've harvested several large colanders full so far with no end in sight.
We have corn people. Yes, it has emerged, and again, growing like gangbusters. We planted two bushel baskets of silver queen and one is thriving, the other got beat down by the wind, I think, and is drooping like crazy. But several of them have the beginning of buds… yippee! One day we will have at least two wee little balcony-grown corn cobs. Can't wait.

Zinnias are my favorite, so we did some mini ones and they are up and blooming like mad. Had bountiful bibb lettuce, but that's about done. Carrots… haven't done so well. Radishes were a hti, though they are about finished up, too. Mint. Can't get enough of the mojitos we've been having. Next year, an even bigger pot for it, I'd say. Several more snap peas showed up unexpectedly. All in all, great success in the garden. May do some spinach plantings for fall… but now, I'm off to water. Ciao!

Balcony garden update

Our little apartment garden experiment is coming along nicely. The radishes are within days of being ready. Little carrot tops are peaking up all over — the seeds are so small that I ended up sowing them quite thickly. I don't know about you, but there is something about thinning little seedlings that makes me feel so mean. These little guys did their best and everybody came bursting out of the soil — as directed — and then, in one fell swoop, plucked out to be discarded. With the radishes, I tried to replant them, but the carrots are so thin and wispy… am I crazy? anyone else?

Our Ikea basil (I bought one of those little seed kits that includes the soil at Ikea last fall)is blue ribbon worthy — I can't wait for Ikea pesto!