Look what I found while harvesting celery to dry.
Bees in the Thai Basil.
The celery will be cut and dried and used in soups and stews in the winter. I love it when the harvest table carries a selection. This is how I decide what to have for dinner.
My jeans and gloves were waiting in the barn for the hay to be baled. You can’t throw bales in a short skirt and tennis shoes which is what I wear every day.
While i waited for the hay to be baled I made ravioli. I am still practising making ravioli but no store bought pasta this month of the September Home Grown Challenge! These were lamb with cilantro, basil and thyme.
I popped them in the freezer for a few hours to wait for dinner, so they would not go soggy.
The last stragglers of the autumn garden were planted.
Then at last the hay was brought in from the fields. Ninety-five bales in all. The old man was mowing the ditches yesterday so my Hay Man’s tall 10 year old son, drove the tractor while his father stacked the bales on the hay rack. Around the fields AND home again this boy drove. He did an excellent job.
I said how old are you? Ten. He said. His face waiting. Oh my goodness, I said to him, I thought you were at least 13. What a splendid young man you are. His smile opened up like a white dove and flew about his face with delight. He stood as tall as he could and smiled out loud. His brother standing next to him smiled exactly the same way as though his older brothers success was his too. And thank you for minding Ton I told the younger one and they looked at each other in glee. I love it when kids get to work, it is good satisfying work. They learn hard work but they learn pride too and pride in what you do is a life force. Even if it is just clearing the table or making their beds or putting away their clothes. Not everyone gets a chance to bale hay or muck out stalls. Knowing they are doing an essential piece of work and getting praise for a job well done is wonderful for kids.
After our Hay Crew had gone we pushed the hay rack up the the clatter box and I loaded it from below and John stacked it from above.
We worked at a steady leisurely pace with lots of mucking around and had it all stacked in the barn in an hour. An HOUR!!! 
What a joy that little clatter box is.
Then in we came and heated up Lyn’s Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce which I have made jars of, it is so tasty. Picked some Swiss-chard, which we have every meal, we eat it thinly sliced and raw, under the steaming sauce. Loading the plates with steaming ravioli we took our meals into the new North Verandah where we eat every night. A very good day yesterday.
I spoke to Red Hat Matt and the piglets are happy in their new home and Matt and his family have discovered, to their delight, that pigs wag their tails when they eat. Lovely.
Below is the recipe Lyn sent me for the Pasta Sauce. It fits the September Home Grown Challenge perfectly and tastes delicious. Lyn is from England and lives in Virginia and you will find her in the Comments Lounge every day. I have been sent a few more recipes from The Fellowship using only the ingredients I have in my gardens so I look forward to trying these as well.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm, celi
Lyns Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
6 bulbs garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium red, yellow, or green sweet peppers halved and seeded
12 pounds of ripe tomatoes, peeled
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of pepper
2 cups of lightly packed fresh basil, snipped
1 cup of lightly packed assorted herbs such as oregano, thyme, parsley, snipped
6 tablespoons of lemon juice
Method
- Preheat oven to 400F. Peel away the outer layers of skin from garlic bulbs, leaving other skin and cloves intact. Cut about ½ inch off pointed end exposing the individual cloves. Place the garlic cloves, cut side up, in a 1 to 1 ½ quart casserole. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cover casserole. Arrange peppers cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet, brush with remaining oil.
- Roast garlic and peppers for 40 – 50 minutes or until pepper skins are charred and garlic cloves are soft. Cool garlic on a wire rack until cool enough to handle. Pull up the sides of foil and pinch together to fully enclose peppers. Let peppers stand for 15 to 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Peel off skins and chop peppers, set aside.
- Remove garlic cloves from skins by squeezing the bottoms of the bulbs. Place garlic cloves in a food processor. Cut peeled tomatoes in chunks, add some of the chunks to the garlic in the food processor. Cover and process until chopped.
- Transfer chopped tomatoes and garlic to a 7 – 8 quart pot, stainless steel, enamel or non-stick. Repeat chopping tomatoes and adding to the pot.
- Add brown sugar, salt, vinegar and black pepper. Bring to boiling. Boil steadily uncovered for 50 minutes stirring often. Add chopped peppers and boil for a further 10 to 20 minutes, or until the mixture is reduced to desired consistency for sauce.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of lemon in the bottom of six hot canning jars and add sauce to ½ from top. Process filled jars in boiling water for 35 minutes.
The Kitchen's Garden 
60 responses to “Hay In, Dinner On, Bees in The Basil”
Garlic might be my favourite vegetable – that pasta sauce sounds delicious!
How do you dry celery? If you have time a post on drying vegetables would be very interesting 😉
I am still experimenting with the drying, i wanted to grind the celery, after drying it in the dehydrator.. but it is taking its time drying! c
C, I have lots of questions about drying celery; did you blanch the celery first for 1 minute to retain its green colour. Does it take about 8 hours to dry once its cut into 1/2 inch thick crescents?
Over eight hours and I blanched and dried it but it did go a bit grey, so i am going to try again, I went 1/4 inch too as i wanted it dry enough to grind. Still working on this one! Still i have lots of celery, Maybe I will just freeze it! c
From my reading the colour is dependent on the blanching process, you need to plunge into ice water immediately.
I’m still waiting for a photo of your Japanese black oak in its new home; mine has just burst into leaf.
I wonder if i can grow them out here as well, then they could be twin oaks, how wonderful that your spring is coming! Such a joyous time of year.. c
Love the spring with all its promise of what’s to come
I just looked up the oak (Quercus acutissima)? and it grows in zone 5- 10.
Was the fig and raspberry information any help to you?
I am zone 5!! yay.. I cannot grow figs, but raspberries are on the list! I am very tired of strawberries! c
I’ll send you the information again about a Chicago fig and Chilliwack raspberry; if you ever grow strawberries again see if you can find a Japanese variety called Tokonaka; they taste between a strawberry and a raspberry to me…….
should be Toyonaka
Thank you, it seems that in the rush that info passed me by in a hurry.. I would love to grow figs, between you and Chicago John maybe I will! I am off in search of our Oak today, so I can plant it this autumn. There are quite a few Fellowship Forest trees going in soon. c
What a yummy recipe. How do you dry celery? Your celery did better than ours. Usually our celery is huge and green, this year it is green and short. Just been a very strange year in this area. The leaves will still be good for stock though.
Yes i need to keep making my vegetable stock too, i cannot have enough of that! c
I usually do poultry stock but I should try vegetable stock as well.
Morning, c. I’m air-drying bundles of sage in the conservatory at the moment. It’s great for tea, too, if you’re having hot flushes … which I don’t anymore because I’m beyond that sweaty stuff now. But sage does good stuff for women; it mimics oestrogen. Sage and honey tea is quite nice.
Thank you for the reminder, i am off to pick and begin drying mine now, i shall try some in the brown paper bag in the fridge too, see what happens! c
Oh, to be on the receiving end of your praise. I could picture those boys and their wide smiles. You are an angel, Celi.
I have met four of his sons already, and they are all barefoot and grinning. Such good kids. c
Amazing to think of a 10 year old driving a machine like that. You are absolutely correct saying that children who have been given a task and praised take pride in themselves and their actions. I love the fact that you use dried celery in winter recipes, never imagined doing that. Thanks Misky (above) for the comment on sage – will remember that advice! The ravioli looks delish, hope you enjoyed your well earned meal. Cath
Good morning cath and welcome.. I shall pop over shortly and see what your blog is all about..thank you so much for popping in c
You are very welcome! Love hearing stories about living off the land. Wish I could do more of it here… one day!
If you wore your short skirt & tennis shoes here I think you’d be doing The Highland Fling when the midges got up it! I love the sound of the garlic sauce and have all the ingredients apart fro the staggering 12lbs of tomatoes! Still there are some good British tomatoes in the local supermarket so I’ll have to cheat with those!
Christine
My garden is looking a little bare this morning too, i was out looking for my morning tomato! We will get another 12 pounds over the next few days though.. c
This post is all wrapped up in warm and fuzzy love! Fabulous pasta sauce too!
🙂 Mandy xo
Morning Mandy. Oh I meant to tell you I sent you a cheque for your cook book but completely forgot about adding postage, so let me know how much that is soon. Looking forward to that! c
What a lovely post with so much going on – I love it when you come acorss children like that…hard working, willing to learn and happy! The sauce looks amazing and now I am thinking about basil infused honey 🙂
now that is an interesting thought! morning tanya! c
Reblogged this on My Blog paul.
Sure wish I could wear short skirts, or even shorts around our place Celi! It’s the chiggers though that manage to find the tender places on our bodies to dive into! And the bites itch for weeks!!!
I just love that the kids are working and that they bask in your praise. Who wouldn’t!!! Also am excited about your September challenge! I’ll be making some of your recipes down here too! XO Oh, never thought of eating the Swiss Chard raw under sauce! Will try that too!
You have a special way with words. I can see those smiles. Praise says it all for a job well done. It is fun looking forward to your month’s challenge and comments. Fresh basil and tomatoes are one of my favorites. Hooray for th hay being safe and sound. Enjoy your day.
The other morning I too watched the bees buzzing and bumbling about my Thai Basil. I wondered “will their honey have an exotic Asian flavour”. Flashy up-and-coming chefs would proclaim this flavour ingredient, so rare, so unusual, and therefore so expensive,the most have ingredient of the moment. I plucked a few leaves and rubbed them gently – inhaling their perfume. That was the perfect moment to enjoy. V.
Bev is so right ..you do have a special way with words..not just todays..reading about the boys ..but everyday. Your enthusiasm and joy come bouncing off the page and really make , what could have been an ordinadry day…something really special..Thank you Celi xxxxxxxx
I love the sequence of the beautiful bales of hay, then their ride up the Clatterbox, and then the empty trailer. Satisfaction! Maybe Mick Jagger should take a turn on your farmy.
lovely grub. That 10-yr-old will go far in life. I love “smile out loud” and “His smile opened up like a white dove and flew about his face with delight.”
Vx