In The Garden: Tomatoes, Jalepenos & Basil

 I have a crapload of basil this year. I've got a pot for my sister, but I've had to snip off the flowers from it, so I think I'm going to have to start harvesting that basil. In any case, the jalepenos are doing excellent.

 I can count about 15 pieces of fruit right now on the four plants and more keep coming every day. These are definitely something I will do next year.

 Unfortunately the cherry tomatoes aren't doing so hot. I've gotten only 3 tomatoes from the plants in the backyard. The one in the front is doing much better. YES. The one pepper plant out in the front has no fruit on it yet - I'm a bit concerned, oh well. I guess the peppers were more of experiments anyway!

And the basil like last year is growing like mad. This weekend I'll be making at least one batch of pesto (and adding in some store bought spinach) and probably some sort of caprese salad.

CSA Recipe - Pasta Sauce & Sauteed Veggies

 Flat onion. Yep, tastes like a regular onion.

 Green beans.

 Trim the stem end from the beans - you can trim both ends if you want to. I grew up with like a half acre for a garden though, so I'm pretty lazy when it comes to veggies. (Ok, so I used to go outside for a snack when I was little - fresh tomatoes, peas, peppers, delish!)

 Zucchini - slice zucchini and summer squash diagonally, not only will they NOT fall through grill grates, but you'll get a better sear and grill marks and you'll be able to season more of the vegetable.

 Delish!

Just use the pasta sauce recipe from a few weeks ago with the flat onion, fresh basil and a package of premade pasta. Whatever kind you like.

Saute all the veggies in a large pan, with a few tablespoons of either veggie oil or olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. You can season with spices if you want - anything is really good. I still like my veggies with a good crunch to them, so the beans maybe 4 - 6 minutes total, the zucchini saute until you see it seared on both sides and then pull off the heat immediately. I dislike smushed zucchini!

Update: THE GRASS

Holy buckets. We've got grass!! And it can actually be mowed! YES!!! Dogs, snow, salt, sand be damned - I will have grass in my backyard!!

It doesn't look too bad, right? There's still a few rough spots out there, but once a week I sprinkle handfuls of grass seed in the bald spots and water. I water like crazy - I hand water every day and make sure that the grass is well soaked.

I've noticed that in the neighborhood everyone has crabgrass - and the only way to get rid of it is to pull it up by hand or dump baking soda on it. (Baking soda totally turns it black and kills it, but then it looks bad and you still have to pull it up anyway). To prevent crabgrass, you need to have a healthy lawn in the first place, so I'm trying my best - deeply watering the grass to make sure it has strong roots. GAH. Lawns. I have no idea why I'm so obsessed with it in the first place. I suppose I should just let it grow into a prairie.

Happy Friday!