Dried basil is the best!

This time most every year, I have a decent crop of basil plants growing here and there. I always try to plant some for drying purposes since I love to use dried basil during the winter for both my chili and spaghetti dishes. Basil is one herb that retains its essential oils rather well over the winter time if they have been properly dried first.

My method of drying involves a simple process. I gather the leaves then cut them up unto small pieces with a knife. Note that I do not wash the leaves first! That would remove the very oil you are trying to preserve! Inspect them carefully and remove any foreign matter. Next I take a cookie pan from the oven, cover it with paper towels and then will sprinkle the leaf pieces evenly over the top. Over this will go a cooking drying grill that helps to keep the dried leaves safe from the winds. That done, all there is left to do is leave the tray in a sunny location for the day and voila, you have dried leaves that can be crushed by hand and then stored in a suitable container.

A meager, but fitting, harvest on a fine Sunday in August!

OK, I know this is not much to look at, especially when my neighbors are now bring in bushel baskets full from their estate gardens. It is August after all, the month of high harvest and plenty. But, perhaps God is sending me a message.

Perhaps the Lord is reminding me that I will be taken care of to the extent I need caring for. After all, the animals outside also had a hard summer of too much heat and too little water. They were also taken care of and were given the major portion of my labors this season. And, just maybe, that is also a good thing.

A new beginning: Fall plantings!

After weathering stifling heat, all summer with little to show in my humble garden (it all burned up), I have bravely gone out and planted anew. The moderating temperatures helped get me out there again. Also, something ate the rabbits which were eating my crops, so that was another good point in favor of a renewed effort on my part.

As a cooler regime seems to be headed this way, it being late August and all, I decided to plant some radishes and lettuce. I did this last week after clearing out the weeds I’d let accumulate in both raised beds. I used a space of about four feet square and used up pretty much the remainder of my Little Caesar romaine seed. I also went ahead and planted a row of Cherry Belle radish as well as a row of kale, using seed that I had harvested from a single plant earlier in the growing season. To my amazement, many of the seeds germinated rather quickly and now I actually have hope of salvaging has been a meager growing season. I’ll just have to wait, water and weed now until the late fall harvest (I hope)!

The rising cost of vegetables at our stores!

Here is a table that compares the cost of vegetables at a local grocery where I live in Forsyth Missouri. Note the 21% increase in just one year. This is not a scientific study, but a casual comparison.  Yet, it's just another good reason to raise your own!

Moringa leaves make a great powder!

I had occasion to harvest a couple of branches of leaves from one of my Moringa trees this week. After drying them under the sun for a few hours, I was amazed at how well they converted into powder form. For the process, I crumbled the leaves into a mortar and then ground it quickly into powder form. Finally, I placed the powder into a seal-able plastic container for storage until use. As you can see, there’s not much here. Still, it will be fun to experiment with and see if I can actually derive any of the rumored benefits (darker hair?) that are talked about on the internet.

Moringa trees, I am told, can grow as much as fifteen feet per year in tropical locales.  One of mine, just before I lopped off the top had made it to six feet in about four months, so maybe there's something to what I read. That the leaves are extremely nutritious there is little doubt. It is called, after all, the Miracle Tree!

My Moringa trees are now over six feet tall!

Well, it seems there’s at least one kind of plant that seems to enjoy hundred plus heat. My two Moringa trees have really grown this summer with one that is now over six feet in height! I may even have to buy a larger pot!

What’s even more exciting are the flowers that are now out and may produce some seed pods before too long. Interestingly, all parts of this tree are edible. The leaves are so nutritious that they are fed, in powder form, to starving children in other countries to help provide a balanced diet.

Both plants have been located, part time, on my balcony in full sun and then other times in my screened in porch where they have received only afternoon sun. Either way, they seem to like the conditions just fine!

I’ve had to water them each and every day as they seem to go through a lot. My one concern, right now, is how well they will fare this coming winter. These are true tropical trees and, as such, don’t respond well to temps lower than 50F.

Even if they don’t make it, they’ve been fun to watch and if I do get a few seeds from them, I’ll have some to plant next spring!