Recent Updates

It's already been about a month and a half since I last updated my blog... oops. I'm so sorry! Everything has been so busy with the start of junior year and the swim team season. Also, my parents and I are already looking into colleges... I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. Anyway, how bout I make it up to you? I'll give you a super long post! YAY! :)

Okay so just an update on my garden...

On August 19th, I had three other Girl Scout troops come help me harvest! They had a great time learning about gardening and healthy eating. I just want to give a big thank you to Mrs. Sotos and Troop 40147, Mrs. Gregory and Troop 40980, and Mrs. Metzger along with her two troops! I had about a total of about 22 girls come and help me harvest that afternoon. Thanks again and I couldn't have done it without you!

Troop 40147 and I after harvesting our herbs!

I've finished my garden as of September 5th. Yes, I went out on Labor Day to do some actual physical work. It only took about three hours. I cut the bottom of the stems and placed the remaining herbs in bags. And let me tell you, there were a TON of herbs left. My plan was to dry the rosemary, thyme, and oregano for later use. As for the basil, I wanted to make basil sauce and give them as gifts to my volunteers. Once I finished packing the herbs into the bags, I looked back and the beds were empty. It was sad to see all of it cleared away. :(

Once I got home, I washed the dirt off the rosemary, thyme, and oregano and soaked them in water two times. Then, I dried them by leaving them on the counter for several days. The house smelled so herby and fresh! :)

For the basil, I went home and plucked every single healthy leaf off the stems (that took a while). Then, I placed them in the fridge so they could stay fresh until we made some pesto sauce. Since my mom was going to be away during the week, my dad offered to help me make some pesto just to make sure that the kitchen wouldn't be destroyed or anything...

Two days later, my dad and I decided to make the pesto sauce using the recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (the recipes can be found under the "recipes" tab). We placed about 1/4 of the harvested basil leaves into the blender and added the other ingredients. Then we pressed the button, "blend". Suddenly, this weird whirring noise occurred making the both of us jump. So we tried another button, and another, and another... After trying several buttons we peered over the edge of the blender to see our creation. What we saw was what looked like green vomit. I tried some of it and it didn't taste very good either. So, we decided to add some more salt and olive oil, while also stirring the mix with a wooden spoon, while the blender was working. We kept stirring and stirring until... CLUNK. My dad and I both stared at each other with a scared look on our faces. Sure enough, once I pulled out the wooden spoon, a chunk of it was missing. That meant that there were wood strings in our pesto. Frustrated and sad at the same time, we said our good-byes to our sauce as we threw it away in the trash can and decided that we would make it once mom got back home. It's amazing how much you need your mother. And another lesson learned: never use wooden spoons when stirring things in a working blender.

Even though my pesto plan didn't work, I've decided to use the dried rosemary, oregano, and thyme as gifts for my volunteers. But don't tell them, it's a surprise!