Using the Harvest - Basil Pesto

Home made pesto is super easy to make and it's 10x better then anything you can buy at the store. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

Bunch of basil

45g of toasted pine nuts

60g of grated parmesan

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

5 tablespoons of light olive oil

Instructions
1. Combine the basil, pine nuts, parmesan and garlic in a food processor and wiz until finely chopped.
2. With the motor still running slowly add the olive oil in a slow but constant stream. Once all the oil has been used scrap the bottom of the food processor and wiz again to combine everything.
3. That's it! You can store it in the fridge for a couple days but if the top is left exposed it oxidises and goes brown. To counter act this either cover with oil or push glad wrap onto the top surface. If this fails the brown top can be scraped away but the bottom is still good to go!

Progress Report

Everything has taken off with the warmer weather over the last few weeks so I thought I'd share some progress pictures. The pumpkins, basil, eggplant and tomatoes have all sprouted their first true set of leaves. Yesterday I transplanted the tomatoes into bigger containers and the sticky fly trap I put up has caught lots of flies! Unfortunately only 6 of my marigolds have survived a bug attack which is disappointing.

The wheel barrow is slowly bulking up; the nasturtiums are growing well, the Brahmi is creeping out and the thyme is flowering. The hellebore's and violets I planted recently are settling in well; and the lavender that I didn't think was going to survive is now in flower which is good to see. 

The Shallots are getting bigger and strong and have warded off an aphid attack very well. The Potatoes have grown to the top of the bags and are growing tall and strong. 

Last week I planted out the big veggie bed with the first lettuce, spinach and parsley that I've grown from seed. I also planted some red cos and marigolds with them that I bought. There are also lots of green strawberries on the newer strawberry plants. 

Seed Progress

It's almost been two week since I started all my seeds and half of them are already up and growing.  I do have mold growing on the outside of the peat pots and the pots made out of news paper which is a bit concerning. All the Tomato seedlings have sprouted as well as the pumpkin, marigolds, nasturtiums, chamomile and rocket. The eggplant, capsicum, lemon balm, malabar spinach, tomatillo and basil are yet to sprout.

My first set of successful seedlings!

The seedling set up in the garage. 

Seed Starting

Spring is officially here! The long awaited September has finally rolled in and I've gotten straight to work on starting my seeds. I decided to try and start all of my summer veggies from seed this year as it's much cheaper. I've read plenty of books on how to successfully start seeds and I've almost perfected the art with lettuce and spinach seeds over the winter. Fingers crossed all goes well!

Here is a list of the seeds I've started in the garage under fluro lights:

• Basil: Sweet, Thai & Lemon.
• Chinese Giant Capsicum
• Eggplant; Listada Di Gandia
• Wrinkled Butternut Pumpkin
• Cherry Tomato: Cherry Roma, Brown Berry & Yellow Pear
• Standard Tomato: Tigerella, San Marzano
• Purple Tomatillo

 These are the seeds I started in the green house outside:

• Wild Rocket 
• Malabar Spinach
• Nasturtium
• Lemon Balm
• German Chamomile
• Marigold: Citrus mix & Red marietta