Hungry Times Two

The new kids on the block: Big Genovese basil on left, Pesto basil on right After several weeks of unimpressive basil growth from three plants - two Italian large leaf and one Sweet Thai -- in our herb garden at the head of our driveway, I gave up and booked it to the garden center this week. I purchased two plants - a large Genovese and a small-ish Pesto basil - and sought growing tips from the garden center owner. He advised that I plant these in containers instead of in the ground, and fertilize them. I'm already excited about the potential for these two and I plan on transplanting the Thai basil to a container to see if I can salvage it and increase the leaf-age. It would be great for the Thai Summer Shrimp Rolls I want to make but have procrastinated since forever - so much that I should probably double check the rice paper wrappers in our pantry for the expiry date. Below is a photo of our herb garden. It also has two varieties of Oregano that exploded with growth la...

This is an interesting time to garden. It's pretty hot outside - the kind of warm that makes you reconsider your ban on grandma linen capri pants that you bought 2 pairs of a few years ago in a moment of humidity-induced weakness. (Or not. Maybe that's just me. I have three summer wardrobes: one that's meant for external audiences, a dowdy but comfy look that is Borderline Bag Lady, and a few "breath-able" things that could make a pastor blush.) In Charlotte it rains nearly every other day, either as torrential downpours or blink-and-you-miss-'em showers. I love the rain -- thanks to Mother Nature I get more time to sleep in the a.m. instead of lugging the hose to our backyard raised beds and our two plots in the community garden.  And the vegetable plants in the garden are right on the verge of exploding... but not quite.  You see the flowers popping up on the tomato, cukes and squash plants. Your green bean plants double their height ove...