Final harvest 2015

This past Friday we got our first frost, with the temperature dipping into the mid 20's. I headed out to the garden to harvest everything but the kale (it doesn't mind a little frost).

I picked all the tomatoes, green or otherwise, parsley, basil, and eggplants. (not included in this picture is another flowerpot full of green tomatoes.

I don't know if we are going to be able to eat all the green tomatoes. My plan is to eat fried green tomatoes until we can't stand them anymore, pickle some of them to give to friends and family and make some green salsa. So these are my good intentions.


On Saturday I put some basil cuttings in water to root them, to grow the basil on my windowsill throughout the winter. Then I decided to turn the rest of that beautiful bouquet of herbs into chimichurri sauce.

Chimichurri is an Argentinean sauce or condiment meant to be served with grilled steak. I am not a meat eater, but I could eat this sauce every day. I put it on rice or veggies, or veggie tacos, and sometimes just eat it with tortilla chips. The nice thing is that I have never made it the same way twice and it always is delicious. I got the recipe from my friend Ben after he made the sauce for us this summer at our friend's lake house.

Here is my version of Ben's recipe. It is similar to a pesto sauce, and can be made with or without limes (limes give it a fresh taste and go well with the cilantro) I love it both ways. You can substitute the herbs with what you have on hand and you can use different kinds of vinegar. In the recipe above I used a lot of parsley, some basil and some garlic chives (no cilantro this time). Almonds can be substituted for the pine nuts.

1 Jalepeno or other spicy pepper(s) (or not)
1 bunch of parsley
2 bunches of cilantro (or more parsley and no cilantro)
some fresh basil and chives (or not)
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3-4 cloves garlic
1 scant tbs oregano
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1-2 tbs pine nuts

Juice of 2 limes - optional

Blend in blender and serve.

The sauce tastes even better the day after it's made. The garlic gets much stronger and the limes and vinegar taste less sour.

Well that's it for this year! The straw bale garden turned out to be a fun experiment and experience, and I hope that everyone who is curious will give it try. Please feel free to contact me with questions!

Renee
gallusgurl@gmail.com