This time of year Vermont is full of gorgeous produce. We have waited all summer, tending gardens, watching as stalls at farmers’ markets fill up a bit more each week. I dare say this is the peak. Of course, we don’t have the luscious asparagus of early summer, and we have lots of fall crops to look forward to, but when corn and tomatoes are so plentiful in the farms all around me, I sleep better at night.
Last week, I had a dream about coming home to ripe tomatoes. Nope. I came home to tomato plants so full of bright green fruit that they had toppled over, stakes and all. My tomatillos are threatening to follow suit.
While those crops, along with a few others, are testing my patience, my basil, pole beans, radishes and wax beans are anxious to make it to the dinner table. I had never grown pole beans, and I wasn’t quite expecting them to be quite so long. Below you can see their flat, very long pods, especially in comparison to wax beans. I also plan to make some pesto, given the bumper crop of basil I just harvested. I have never had much success with purple basil, but all my basil in the garden just won’t quit. Even after today’s pruning, the plants look healthy and leafy and will certainly need harvesting again soon. I will be happy to oblige.
Now if I can just figure out how to make dairy-free pesto…
