The fruits of Bob's labors

A shift has occurred in our gardening habits at the Hansen house over the past few years. Used to be I was the gardener, couldn't resist getting into the dirt. Bob was my go-to guy for the heavy work part of the gardening, lifting and toting, fetching and hauling. Gradually, I have become less enchanted with the garden work, although still drawn in by the need to get my hands dirty now and then. Maybe it was the recurrent end-of-the-summer feeling of having had enough of the picking and weeding that just wasn't fun anymore, and no one else seemed to care if they had fresh green beans for dinner or not. But Bob has stepped up his game and taken charge of the vegetable gardening (hallelujah!) and doing a fine job! This morning I have been taking care of tasks at home on this fine summer day, can't resist showing you:

Zucchini and green beans picked

cherry tomatoes starting to ripen

basil awaiting the transformation to yummy pesto and a little acorn squash

We still get some nocturnal visits from neighborhood deer, we never see the critters but they like to nibble the tops off the green beans. Deer repellent works as long as someone remembers to put it on now and then. But all in all, we are having a good summer for produce in the back yard!

I made 2 batches of pesto last night, one using the traditional pine nuts and the other with walnuts so we can do a comparison. I just made a yummy bowl of pasta for lunch using rotini, tomatoes and calamata olives with a heaping spoonful of the pine nut pesto. Here's my pesto concoction: 4 c. packed fresh basil leaves, 3 T. toasted pine nuts (or walnuts), 3 tsp. minced garlic, 1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese and 1/2 c. olive oil. Put it all in the food processor and let it chop until there are no chunks left. I plan to make some to freeze, but for now I just put it in a plastic container (with plastic wrap pressed down to the surface to slow down the oxidation that makes it turn darker color) and have it refrigerated.