January 27, 2009

Basil Harvest

These are all the jars of pesto that I made over 2 days, using the abundant harvest of basil that I had this summer (1 jar is missing in the photo) and a big bunch of basil from my MIL. 4 jars will go to my MIL and 2 to my 2 SILs. 3 went into my freezer and 2 are in my fridge.

Hubby and I are very thankful for our great basil harvest. I made some basil pesto last summer but this year's harvest is a lot better. Of our 8 plants, 1 died, 1 given away and the rest average about 1 metre in height. After making the above basil pesto, I am left with 6 half-metre tall plants. I am hoping to freeze some fresh leaves closer to the end of summer, so that I have fresh leaves to use all throughout the year. The basil plants has to also be pruned back so that they can 'hibernate' and then bloom again next summer.

I felt fulfilling and happy that I can make something in abundance and store them away and the main ingredient comes from my very own garden. I did not grow up in such an environment but in a city where things/food are easily available within 5 mins.

I am a bit bored of making basil pesto now :p Probably will also try to freeze chopped basil into ice cubes for future use. Again, I will probably only do this at the end of summer :)

Original basil pesto with garlic, pine nuts and parmesan cheese


Basil pesto with sundried tomatoes, cashew nuts (instead of pine nuts) and garlic

2 other thoughts:

Steeejei said...

Don't forget to add a layer of sunflower/vegetable oil on top of each pesto jar to prevent discolouration!

Looks great!

island said...

yeah, the layer of liquid you see on the photos? that's olive oil :p

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