Recent dinners I hadn’t posted yet

Garden basil as an add-in for homemade pho (even broth from scratch).
Garden oregano (hiding in the meatballs)
Pesto has garden basil and the salad tomatoes are “Jennifer’s Arkansas”. Yum!

07/10/2023 bouquet before and after

The Chef had a professional lunch at colleagues’ house yesterday and requested something to take since they didn’t need any additional food brought. I snipped an assortment of garden flowers and herbs and put them in a jar.
The Chef did his arrangement magic and trimmed the various stems to a pleasing length. Rudbeckia, an orange zinnia, and a tall smartweed are at the top. Mealy blue sage and Salvia greggii hug the middle. Three winecups and a pink zinnia edge the rim of the jar over a peachy orange raffia bow.

Williams’ Pride Apples harvest year 2

Last summer we waited too long to harvest our first Williams’ pride apple. This year as soon as they started turning red, I went reading to figure out when they ripen. We have been looking to see the background color go from green to yellow, and several sites said the apple should easily fall off the tree with a tug. This has been working well! I think at first we were tugging too gently as one apple was still rotting on the tree but all the rest have been good since.

This is the only tree I bought from Raintree nursery but I would try them again if I have to replace any trees. It has had the most enthusiastic start of all our young fruit trees. You can see there are still multiple apples left ripening plus a few more in the house.
Good job, Professor Williams! They are sweet and tart and crispy!

06/22/2023 garlic business

This is probably the most accurate size comparison photo. Tuqu is small. Garlic is large.

06/19/2023 garden flavors

Notes from the Chef: “a cream and wine sauce with basil leaves to cover the onion, zucchini, squash, and sausage mix.” Claire’s note: onion and basil from the garden. “The potatoes were cooked with pecan oil, salt, and garden sage. When they started to crisp on the bottom, I added a cup of chicken stock and white wine with garden lemon balm leaves stirred in to steam.” The pecan oil was a gift from Mom and Dad. Walking onions are the garnish.