When we got back from the states I was surprised and thrilled at how all my basil had turned out. If you recall back in http://www.rexmanningday.com/2012/02/26/basil-basil-basil/ I had many seedlings and had planted them in a few different places. Also due to the size and based on the fact I planted a ‘mixed’ seedling set, I was not too sure just what type of basil I had.
This is what they look like now. And we are using them as much as we can, having pasta and other such things at least 3 times a night. I love having the freedom to pick bunches of the herb and use it liberally. By the fistful, full sun ripened fat leaves.
This is the basil I had in the container. I got lucky and it has nearly every type of basil. Red, Sweet, Cinnamon, Greek. When I go to open the gate, my dogs are usually with me, and their tails wagging sends wafts of basil scent into the air, its intoxicating. Also this planter is attracting many bee’s so it is also serving a very important role in the garden.
This is my main harvesting crop/bed. I plan to grow some broccoli and kale in the rest of the bed over winter. But for now while they are still seedlings this basil crop is being harvested by the stems.
Same bed from another angle. The majority of this bed is sweet basil and lemon basil. The lemon basil smells amazing and attracts a lot of bees. The sweet basil I harvest the flowering stems to encourage more growth from them. There are a few lonely purple and cinnamon basil plants in this mix.
This bed is a rockmelon bed currently, that I planted some basil in to get a large crop. Its working in two ways. 1. I am able to harvest the basil in clumps and 2. the horrid grasshoppers and other leaf eating bugs are tending to prefer this basil patch, which as I put it in as a temporary spot, means they aren’t hitting my other herbs or plants as much as they could be. Also more bee attraction.
I have some other projects going along. Obviously it isnt all about basil. There will be more detailed posts when they come to fruition, right now I am just photographing and documenting the processes, so here are some teaser images.
Here is hogan supervising and helping a bed being planted out.
Jack-Jack was more interested in his bone. A bone that he then planted into my beans. Unfortunately for him, I found it, and it did not sprout into more bones. He got locked out of the front yard for that bit of ‘help’.
The early garlic in early sprouting.
I have these hidden in the back of a cupboard in the dark sprouting away.
I wish I could take credit for this image of a ladybug on my sunflowers, but it was the hubs who takes the prize for best picture out of my garden yet.
These bronze sunflowers are providing me with joy, and the garden with bees.
This is our biggest of the developing rockmelon. I have my fingers crossed it will grow to maturity, but I already have mould setting in on the leaves, and I did plant it at the very butt end of summer so it might just not happen. But I am keeping up with the watering and like I said I am optimistic.