Summer Solstice

As the earth begins its slow exhale and the days begin to shorten, we too take a moment to exhale a sigh of relief: our small spring harvest was a success and a cornucopia of summer vegetables lies ahead. Yet we take a moments pause between harvests and our little vegetable plants start mocking us and calling us lazy. They’re greedily inhaling all of those previous exhales and using that CO2 to power their exponential growth.

We spend most of our days weeding and watering, though I don’t really find a reason to weed. Is it not just useful ground cover? They have not overpowered our precious miniatures…yet...though perhaps in time. So, I keep weeding away anyways.

We have entered a dry spell (of harvest, not of rain, of which we've had more than enough of in my opinion) between our spring crops and summer crops. Thus far we’ve harvested about 25 radishes , 30 handfuls of lettuce, 4 handfuls of sweet basil, 1 handful of purple African basil, and about as much bok choy as you could ever possibly want. If you extend your arms in front of you like you're holding a basket so only the very tips of your fingers touch, that's about how much bok choy we had. I know, we use very precise measurements.

Last night I decided to take a stab at food preservation. I washed and chopped the bok choy, blanched it, and divvied it up between Ziploc bags- one serving per bag. I made sure to label and date it as the online directions advised. You're supposed to expel all the air before shoving it in the freezer. Some have fancy machines for that work, but me, I have a handy dandy straw. I zipped the bags so that there was only space enough for the straw and sucked all the air out that I could. Man, my lungs sure got a workout.

I also whipped up some pesto to freeze for later convenience. Toasted pine nuts, olive oil, a couple of garlic cloves, and fresh basil from the garden. Simple, yet delicious. Then I poured it in the ice cube tray and, after it was solid, transferred the cubes to a plastic bag. Now whenever I feel like pesto I can pop one or two out of the freezer, and voila, the taste of summer at my fingertips.

I’d really make a great housewife.