Butter lettuce after spring rain

With the world in such a stir today, the more I can simplify my life, the better I’ll feel. Grocery prices are soaring as are restaurant prices so I’ve made a promise to myself to grow some of my family’s produce. I don’t want to complicate my life by having to manage a large vegetable garden. But many vegetables are easy to grow and can even be grown in a pot on the porch.

One of the keys to success is to grow in season. Unless you have perfect conditions, it won’t be possible to grow spinach, snow peas or bok choi in the middle of a hot summer. They are spring and fall vegetables. But you can grow kale, Swiss chard and many other Asian greens all summer.

Swiss Chard

And planting every few weeks will keep the produce coming. Bush beans grow beautifully in a pot, and planting every two or three weeks will keep them producing all summer.

Afraid that tomatoes need a lot of care – trellising, spraying, etc? There are new varieties of smaller tomato plants with “potato” type leaves that are compact and inherently quite disease-resistant. You can pick a warm, just ripened tomato from a pot on your porch.

It seems every garden store has plenty of onion sets, and planting a few every two weeks will give you scallions all summer long. Plant them in a pot with radishes and you have an instant salad.

Scallions

An herb garden of dill, arugula and cilantro will grow spectacularly in a pot. Add some basil and use them for pesto (what could be simpler and tastier than hot pasta tossed with pesto and fresh tomatoes?).

Classic Pesto

3 cloves garlic
2 c. fresh basil leaves
¼ c. nuts
1 ½ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
½ cup olive oil
3 oz. Parmesan

Combine all ingredients except oil and cheese in blender or processor. Add half the oil. Process while adding other half the oil. Stir in cheese as you serve.

Kale or Swiss Chard Pesto for the freezer

3 T. toasted pecans, walnuts or pine nuts (toasting gives them a fabulous flavor that raw nuts don’t have)
7 c. greens, stems removed
¼ chopped fresh basil
2 T. lemon juice
½ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced (or substitute ½ cup chopped garlic scapes)
2 T. water
1 T. olive oil
¼ c. Parmesan cheese

Place ingredients through garlic in food processor – process until smooth. Slowly pour water and oil through chute with processor on until well blended. Add cheese when serving.