Category: Herbs

Preserving Parsley, Italian Basil and Thai Basil

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I decided to experiment with preserving more of my herbs this year. I always have been making the base for basil pesto by simply chopping freshly harvested basil with olive oil and freezing it in ice cube trays. I sometimes add kale or arugula to the mix. This basil “pesto” is then used throughout the year in pasta dishes, on pizza or focaccia, and for chicken, fish, roasted vegetables and other dishes. I find that leaving out the nuts, cheese and garlic makes it more versatile, and I can always add those later.

I also have been making Thai basil pesto (with sesame oil, rice vinegar and peanuts), but I have always used it fresh or kept it in the fridge for a few days. I just made my first batch this week to use for these crispy pork noodle bowls. So good! I always use a different recipe for the pesto though. This year, I am planning to experiment with freezing Thai basil in a similar way as my regular basil, so I can make fresh Thai basil pesto throughout the colder months. I have five plants in a big container on my porch and expect to get several harvests out of them.

Thai basil ready to be processed

This year, I am trying to find ways to preserve my parsley. I have two huge plants on my porch and one in my plot. Parsley is probably the herb I used the most in the kitchen, from Moroccan meatballs to fish dishes to soups to simple garnishes. I harvested a big handful, washed it and chopped it up in a food processor. I then froze it with a bit of water in ice cube trays and later moved the cubes to a ziplock bag. This first batch turned out quite crumbly, so next time, I will add more water and even freeze some of the parsley in olive oil.

Chopping up parsley
Parsley “pucks”

Garlic Scape Pesto

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I turned the garlic scapes I harvested a couple of days ago into pesto: just store-bought basil, garlic scapes, olive oil and salt, homogenized with a stick blender and frozen in ice cube trays with a thin layer of olive oil on top. I then stored the cubes in a Ziplock bag in the freezer. They will last for several months. I am still using pesto I made last year. I find that leaving out cheese and nuts makes the pesto more versatile, for instance if I decide to use it on fish or shrimp. One cube packs a punch. I also used rosemary from my porch to make rosemary focaccia, which I had for dinner with a big home-grown salad.

Lemongrass

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A couple of weeks ago I purchased some lemongrass at Whole Foods. There were four stalks in the package, but only two of them still had some of the stem intact. It was completely cut off at the other two. I placed the stalks that had stems in water and watched them develop nice roots. They also started to sprout new leaves. Yesterday I planted them (about an inch deep) in a container on my back porch. Lemongrass likes it hot and moist. The weather has been pretty cold these past days, but I am sure that will change. I am looking forward to see how this experiment will turn out.

Fully Planted

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Well almost fully planted. Today I put in the cucumbers (two Tokiwa slicers, three Pickling cucumbers), squash (one each Zucchini, Honeynut, Butternut and Delicata), two Asian eggplant seedlings, four Italian basil and three Tulsi sacred basil plants. Against the fence, I sowed Zinnias (Queen Lime Red, Large Mixed), cosmos (Sulferous, Rubenza), and I also planted nasturtium in between the tomatoes. I then covered everything with hay. I also harvested two heads of head lettuce.

Snap peas
Merlot head salad

Tomatoes Are in the Ground

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I have been traveling for the past two weeks and during my absence my plot turned into a weed fest. This morning, I spent three hours weeding before I planted my tomatoes that had been hardening off on my porch these past two weeks. I put 8 in the ground today (I started out with 9, but one Ananas Noire sadly broke. I will plant a Paul Robson instead), and sprinkled some Tomato-tone around each plant. I also planted marigolds. The tomatoes will be interplanted with basil, and I will also plant some squash, eggplant, and nasturtiums in that area.

Still waiting to be transplanted are the cucumber and squash seedlings, eggplant and basil. My hot peppers never really grew despite having started them back in February. They stayed too small to transplant. So, I ordered a Thai hot pepper plant from Neighborhood Farms. I also ordered a delicata squash seedling, Thai basil and regular basil (I lost some of both while I was gone), Tulsi (sacred basil), another Asian eggplant, rainbow Swiss chard for my porch, and the Paul Robson tomato seedling.

I also harvested radishes, the overwintered leeks, and one (overwintered) head lettuce that was in the way of the tomatoes. The first big harvest of the season.

First Transplants

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Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours in the garden weeding and planting. We have water in the garden now and it was time to transplant my four kale seedlings, six head lettuce seedlings, Swiss chard and leeks. I covered the lettuces and kale with row cover hoping it will deter the rabbits or other interested creatures. I also purchased three flat parsley plants, one spilanthes, one Orient Express eggplant, camomile, and a six-pack of marigolds from the Neighborhood Farm stand at the Wake up the Earth festival. I planted the spilanthes and one parsley in the plot and also sowed some cilantro next to the Swiss chard. I ripped out some mint and put it in a pot on my back porch. I planted two parsley plants and the camomile in containers on my porch. The marigold and eggplant will be transplanted into the plot together with the tomatoes and peppers at the end of May when I return from my travels.

Mint, lavender, camomile, parsley

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Peas
First harvest: super spicy radish thinnings. Yum!

Seedlings Inventory and Starting Cucumbers & Squash

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Tomatoes and basil

My tomato and basil seedlings have been living on my kitchen table for the past few weeks. I rotate the tray so they grow evenly. The tomatoes are getting a bit leggy, but everything looks good. I have 9 tomatoes, 4 regular basil and 2 Thai basil cells.

Leeks, kale, Swiss chard and lettuce

I have a few of the seedlings outside on the back porch now to harden. I will transplant them into my plot in the next couple of days. We still don’t have water in the community garden, so I want to wait until it is turned on. I have a bunch of leeks and Swiss Chard, 4 kale plants and 8 head lettuces. I will transplant some of the head lettuce into containers on my porch and the rest will go into the community plot.

Freshly sown curcubites, hot peppers, eggplant and tomato under the grow lights

Today, I started my cucumbers and squash. Each in triplet, I planted two pots Tokiwa, three plots pickling cucumber and two pots Mexican sour gherkins (cucamelons). I also planted one pot of Delicata squash (I sadly only had three seeds left), two each Butternut and Honeynut, and one zucchini.

Basil close-up