A few quick tips before I head out to the garden.
Making pesto? Was your local market out of pine nuts? That's happened to me before, so now I buy them way ahead of time and pop them in the freezer until I need them for pesto. I try not to munch on them. That doesn't always work.
I freeze our pesto in ice cube trays, same as our tomato paste. After they're frozen, I store them in freezer bags or containers.
Fall's just around the corner. No, really it is. People rake their leaves and put them in bags next to the road for the county to pick up (in Nashville). We go around in our trucks and bring them home. We add them to our compost pile, mulch our beds with them (topped with pine needles), and turn them into our gardens. We stack bags next to our compost pile to use for mulch between the rows in the garden the following year. It's free gold!
Speaking of mulch and compost. We pick up our grass clippings with a grass bag and add them to our compost pile. We also use them in between the rows in our garden, usually layered on top of the leaves. In the fall, it's all turned under. Our garden soil used to be solid clay and now it's incredible dark, rich soil.
I freeze our bell peppers, whole, to use throughout the year. Simply cut off the top, scoop out the seeds and freeze in freezer bags. If you use them for stuffed peppers, stuff them when they're still frozen.
Planting a fall garden? Start thinking about it now. Since we usually have super wet springs around here, we rely on our fall garden for greens for the year. By the end of August, we'll start sowing spinach, lettuce, kale, chard, turnip greens, turnips, beets and I'm sure I'm missing some. Just make sure to keep them watered, if you go through a dry spell.
That's it for now. I've got a long day ahead of me.
Until next time.....