Eat what you grow!

Grilled corn and summer squash, basil butter and some grilled chicken(not mine).

Hi Countrygardens,

It was Thai Lemon Basil

I've never heard of Thai *Lemon* Basil, but it sounds really delicious! Now I have another new basil to look for... If you let it bloom later in the season and harvest seeds from it, please let me know! I'm sure I can find something to tempt you with, maybe Lime Basil if you don't have it... :-)

I'm picking an occasional cherry tomato here, but it looks like the dang groundhog has delayed my cucumbers again by chomping on the plants. Uargh! Fortunately, I got some very nice little cukes at the farmer's market last week, so I'm hoping to find more today. :-)

I did pick a lot of basil yesterday that the Japanese beetles hadn't gotten to yet... hopefully they'll be gone again soon, and the plants will have a chance to grow out nicely for summer harvests!

essentialplanet - I'm growing Thai Lemon Basil this year too (at least that is what the seed packet said.... haha). I prefer regular basil's flavor, but this is so pretty - it brightens up the garden. Here is a pic....

Hi Critterologist,

I do not have lime basil - and have never tried it. Sounds good!

I have not saved Basil seeds in the past, any tips to pass along?

Speaking of herbs - does anyone here have experience growing cilantro (coriander)?

I use the leaves in garden salsa, and I have to buy it at the store. Twice now I've tried getting cilantro plants at a nursery, and that doesn't work well. As soon as it's transplanted into the garden, it immediately bolts to seed.

I've got two cilantro plants in the garden now, useless for salsa but with about a million seed pods on them. I'm thinking of saving the seed and trying to grow it that way. Will that work?

Cilantro doesn't like any kind of hot weather - it bolts. I grow it in the winter here. It grows easily from seed.

Ozark, you may have more luck if you start it from seed directly in the garden (or start your own seedlings and transplant as soon as the regular leaves appear), rather than buying transplants from the nursery. It's true cilantro doesn't like hot weather and will bolt quickly when the temps rise. I have interplanted the coriander seeds with other taller plants that could offer some shade and have been able to harvest before it bolts. You'll have to harvest earlier than in cooler weather, but you'll still have a useable harvest. I find that nursery transplants are usually too mature when you buy them, so the cilantro finishes off its lifecycle faster than when I seed it between the other crops. Try a few seeds and see what happens.

Ozark, sounds like you have plenty of the seed to use as coriander, too.

It won't cross with any other vegetable or herb, so the seeds should be fine to save. It could cross with another coriander variety w/in half a mile, but that's sort of unusual. :)

Ozark,

I have the same problem with cilantro, so I tried this method, and it seems to be working well so far.

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/0,20633,1190558,00.html

That's a great link essential. I might try growing some on the deck again as well as the in the garden.

Now Thai basil is licorice flavored. Lemon basil is lemon flavored, so what flavor is Thai lemon ?

essentialplanet, I sense a trade in the works! :-) The lime basil is fun, very definitely a lime flavor and quite different than lemon basil (although the growth habit and leaf shape are similar).

Saving seed from basil is easy. Just let the basil flower (but remember that once it does, the leaves will become less tasty, so either just let a couple of plants flower or wait until later in the summer). If you want to guard against cross-pollinating, pinch your other basils back so that only one kind of basil flowers at a time. The flowers will drop off after a week or two, and you'll see little bumpy bits left behind on the flower stalk. Over time, these will turn color from green to brown, as the seeds inside mature. Once the bumpy bits are dry and brown, you can strip them from the plant and rub them between your fingers to release the small, dark, round seeds. I let the seeds and chaff dry together on a plate for a while, and then I put it through a screen/sieve to remove the larger bits of chaff. The smaller chaff can be removed by gently swirling the seeds in a bowl and blowing to remove the "dust."

More important than trying to get out all the chaff is making sure the seeds (and any remaining chaff) are thoroughly dry before storage, especially if you're putting them into little zip plastic bags like I use. I tend to leave seeds out on plates for a couple of weeks past when I think they're probably dry enough, just to be sure. Storing the seeds in a cool, dry, dark place (room temperature is fine, especially if your room temp seldom gets above 80'F) will help them stay viable for several years.

Anybody for a tomato ?
Sorry all sold.
Have some more ready on the plants in the next couple days, so stop in
Bernie!

Lemon or lime basil chopped and added to your tarter sauce is great on fish! Mayo, shallot, little bit of garlic and some lime basil and you'll expect a waiter to fill you coffee cup after dinner!

Countrygardens,

Thai Lemon definitely has a lemony flavor and scent to it.

Critter,

Thanks for the seed saving tips! I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

I made salsa yesterday from tomatoes, red and white onions, green pepper, jalapeno, chili pepper and stevia. So for lunch today, I cooked up some nachos with cheddar cheese and fresh jalapenos on them. I must admit, wimp that I am, it was far too hot for me. I ended up picking off all the jalapenos before finishing the nachos....

Looking good, I can't eat too much of anything too hot either, just a little bit at a time.

If your nose starts running, your forehead breaks out in sweat, and you have to keep a glass of ice water nearby - the heat is just right.

Mosquitos won't even bite me because I'm full of salsa caliente from the garden. lol

Getting ready to sort through the yard long (asparagus) beans. Young ones for the pan and older ones for shelling.

Tonight I made veggie gumbo with shelled yard long beans in it to boost the protein a little.

her yard long beans are GREAT.... gonna have to pawn some seeds off of her for me next year...

why did you add stevia to the hot sauce? It seems an interesting addition but just wondering why?

I'm trying to learn different things to do with stevia.

Veggiehappy Your beans look great. I bet they taste wonderful. Deanna

Thanks deanna8 - they are beginning to peter out a little, but since we've had rain and reasonable temps - they are going longer than I expected them to.

renatelynne - I will save seeds for you girlfriend :-)