The Garden Harvest

Basil
From mid-July through September, I harvest fresh sweet basil for cooking, homemade salad dressings and pesto sauce. It’s hard to believe that two dollars worth of plants will create a year’s supply of delicious basil. I freeze, can and dry the fresh leaves. The frozen leaves are excellent in dressings and cooking throughout the year. At the end of this article I’ll provide links to my basil recipes. It’s also great in soap!

Peaches
In the backyard I have a semi dwarf Belle of Georgia Peach tree that takes up very little space. By mid to late July the tiny tree is smothered in beautiful peaches. They are excellent to eat fresh-or for baking and freezing. They are excellent tossed into a batch of Margaritas or lemonade. I really enjoy the former.

Tomatoes (Patio, F1 Hybrid)
This year I bought two tiny patio tomato plants and added them to a flower bed. They have been
churning out dozens of perfectly shaped ripe tomatoes for 5 weeks now and the plants are still loaded. This small variety has beautifully shaped substantial leaves. The foliage looks great among your favorite summer flowers. I highly recommend this variety. Just plop them into any sunny location and they’ll perform.

Rosemary, Lavender, Russian Sage and Patchouli

I love everything about these herbs. They are easy, beautiful and aromatic. They are wonderful to have near the entrance of the garden. They are my favorites to use in homemade soap. I have included a link to the vegetarian soap recipe I use at the end of the article.

Stevia
This plant is native to Paraguay. I found a small plant at a local herb farm. Stevia is used in baking as a sweetener. You can dry it or use the fresh leaves. I like to add a few leaves to iced tea or coffee. It has 0 calories, no carbs and is said to be up to 400 times sweeter than sugar. Some studies suggest that if it is used in any pure unadulterated form it may not adversely affect blood glucose levels and can be used freely by both diabetics and hypoglycemics. For people with blood sugar, blood pressure or weight problems-stevia is worth looking into.

Sweet Chili Peppers
I added one tiny plant next to the Lilac bush this year. It has produced about 70 peppers so far and it’s still going. One plant is all you need. I use them fresh to make homemade salsa and freeze them for chili.

Purple Perilla (Chinese Basil)
I had to mention this species here. It is incredibly sturdy, delicious and beautiful. It has an anise-basil flavor. It is self-seeding, so it can be wildly invasive. I plant it in trouble areas where nothing else will grow. Use it carefully where it won’t wander into other planting areas. Early in the summer when it’s still small, you can easily pull it (roots intact) to remove or transplant it. Try containing it in a pot for a season. Don’t let it go to seed, as this will cause it to spread. It is native to Eastern Asia. It is reported to have medicinal qualities-and is also believed to repel ticks when rubbed onto clothing and skin.