Bug Buddies, Flowers and Garlic Scapes

Bee on Borage

Beneficial insects are everywhere now as the garden is providing multiple sources of food, habitat and territories to be claimed.
Here is the garden this week


Common orb-weaver spiderlings huddle together on a tomato leaf 


A sweat bee rests on a bean plant 


Ladybug larva hunting for aphids on an orach leaf 


I picked the first of the snap peas. I barely got them into the house before they were gobbled up 


My hardy kiwi is blooming


The tomatillos are putting out lots of blossoms 


I noticed that the quinoa is starting to flower


A nasturtium blossom peeking out from under a kale leaf



My George Burns (top) and Grand Dame (bottom) roses are blooming 



Raspberry Lyanna  and Beauty King tomato blossoms. Even as a flower Beauty King is flamboyant 


The tomatoes and carrots in the community garden plot are growing pretty well, though some of the carrots got pulled out when I was hoeing the weeds 


The hard neck garlic is sending out scapes and we've been enjoying them grilled and in pesto (see recipe at the end) 


I dug up one of the soft neck garlics to see if it was ready. It is a little too early still. Garlic is ready to harvest when 5-6 of the lower leaves have completely died back (in the picture you can see only three leaves have died). Each dead leaf corresponds to a protective papery layer around the cloves. If you wait until all the leaves have died back completely the protective layers begin to split, exposing the cloves to bacteria and significantly hindering its storability


Weekly harvest:

9 ounces garlic scapes
3 ounces strawberries
15 ounces peas
1 ounce peppers

Yearly total:

10 pounds 3 ounces




Garlic Scape Pesto

1/4 pound garlic scapes, roughly chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup finely shredded parmigiano reggiano, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Combine scapes, pine nuts, cheese, salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse 8-10 times or until scapes and nuts are finely chopped. Scrape down sides of bowl, add 1/2 cup oil and process until fully combined and sauce is smooth, about 30 seconds.

To store:
Pour sauce into a 1 cup freezer safe container and smooth top. Pour remaining oil over the surface of the pesto and seal container. Will keep in standard freezer up to 3 months, deep freezer up to 1 year



Comments

  1. I love my Beauty King tomatoes! The flowers and fruit are gorgeous. I think it's my favorite. Thanks for the seeds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's definitely in my top five favorites as well. Have a great season!

      Delete
  2. The ladybug larvae is always rewarding to see.
    Nice roses, nice everything!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts