Basil and Braided Garlic

This month has been a busy month of building paths, tying tomato plants, and weeding.  Pounding in fence posts and getting the tomato plants off the ground has been sweatier work than I thought.  I come in from the  garden smelling like a teenage boy's gym clothes.  Sweat literally runs down my glasses like it was raining.  This spring was marked by hurricane force winds and now that the temperature has spiked, the wind dies to placid stillness.
According to Nathaniel Hawthorne, " in the summer forenoons,—when the fervent heat, that almost liquefied the rest of the human family,"  the plants have stretched towards the sky, relishing the "liquefying" heat.  You can see them reveling in the sun.

The basil in amongst the tomato plants is bushing out nicely due to my husbands attentiveness.  He goes out regularly and plucks the tops and just a few leaves from the plant, leaving plenty for the plant to live off of.  He then either drys the leaves on racks or freezes the leaves.  Putting the leaves in the refrigerator will only result in a slimy mess.

The pumpkin in the plastic water tepee from the home page is flourishing.  The fruit is abundant and growing daily.  

The borage has it's petite, pretty blue flowers and the potatoes have their white ones.

The garlic scapes have been sauteed and devoured.  And the garlic has been harvested.  Way more than what we thought. Some bulbs were tiny, some were huge and everything in between.  It tastes wonderful.  Well worth growing your own. The garlic must be dried to save for the year.  Braiding the garlic must be easy.  I've braided hair for years.  My first try was a flop, but 6 vain attempts later I decided that I was really going for the rustic look.  You know, Italian peasants in cotton skirts in a Tuscan kitchen with a big fire place kind of rustic.

Yes, my fantasy does help me sleep at night.