Julia's Garden Blog » organic gardening

Cooking with Basil – Tomato Basil Soup Recipe

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:53:48 +0000

Sweet basil is used to flavor non-alcoholic beverages, ice cream, candy, baked goods, puddings, condiments and meats. Especially used to flavor Italian dishes.

One of the most popular recipes that use basil as the main ingredient is for Tomato Basil Soup. It’s a great, tasty way to use some of your basil that’s ready to harvest in your garden.

Here’s the recipe to get you on your way.

Tomato Basil Soup Recipe

Ingredients

# 2 teaspoons olive oil
# 2 garlic cloves, minced
# 3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
# 1/2 teaspoon salt
# 3 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
# 2 cups fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
# Basil leaves (optional for garnish)

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in the broth, salt, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Stir in basil. Place half of the soup in a blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a bowl, and repeat procedure with remaining soup. Garnish with basil leaves, if desired.

Still have more basil to harvest? Try some Basil Beer Bread or Thai Basil Chicken.

Learn how easy it is to grow your own sweet basil. It’s fun!

Online Catalogs Make Ordering Seeds Easy

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:58:22 +0000

The easiest and quickest way to find the seeds you want to plant this year is through online catalogs. Seed companies like Select Seeds, Gurneys, Henry Fields and more make it fun and easy to select the best varieties for your area. They even group them together so that if you want to find seeds for a fragrance garden, cottage garden, edible garden, perennials, foliage or container plants, you’ll find great pictures and growing information.

One caution though. Be sure not to get too carried away with your choices especially when ordering vegetable packets. Only grow what you and your family can reasonably eat.

Learn more about ordering from online catalogs at our website at www.MidSouthGardeningAdvice.com

Fertilizing Bulbs with Bonemeal. A good idea?

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:51:48 +0000

There is some discussion about whether or not bonemeal is still good to use on bulbs. The bottom line is that the way bonemeal is made these days (much like everything else), lots of the nutrients have been taken out. It still is a good source of phosphorus though and may be used if you prefer. It just takes the bulb a little longer to get it into a form that it can use.

A better and cheaper solution is buying a bulb booster fertilizer such as Bulbs Alive!.

This all natural, slow release fertilizer should be applied to your soil when planting bulbs in the fall. It gives them a great start and results in sharper colors and healthier plants come spring.

Apply it to your already established bulbs in the spring when leaves emerge.