What are the pizza people growing in their gardens?

[CanuckJim]

Re: What are the pizza people growing in their gardens?

XJ, Smashy,

Like you, I grew basil in pots with limited success; usually small, spindly plants. Last season, though, I made up an herb garden along the west facing wall of my oven and put the plants directly in the ground with a bit of granular fertilizer. Man oh man did those plants ever take off, bushy and nearly three feet tall by harvest time. Still, the topsoil is very rich, and I made sure they got lots of water during the hottest periods. Pinched off the flower spikes as they appeared. Only problem was I didn't put in enough plants, because I was trimming them all summer.

Give it a shot. I'm not the world's best gardener, but this seemed to work.

Jim

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: What are the pizza people growing in their gardens?

My Italian Uncle pretty much yelled at me for not pinching back the basil as it starts to go to seed. Every time you see a little seed bud? forming, just pinch it off. My 2 cents.
Drake

[BarbaraC]

Re: What are the pizza people growing in their gardens?

For goodness sake - DONT FORGET THE PARSLEY!

Parsley is great for everything - even pizza.

In Italy the garlic is not dried like we have here in California, they just pull it out of the ground and it is fresh and has a much milder flavor. Also I did not see any zucchini or crookneck squash, which is great on pizza and or dipped in sauce.

So one more tip - whenever I buy basil at the store, I buy a big batch and then toss the whole mess into a giant bowl of water and trim the end off the stems a tiny bit so that they take up water. (same with parsley) I let them soak for about half a day, then dump the water and put them back into a bowl with less water in the bottom, so the leaves are above and the stems are in the water. Some wilts, and some eventually sprouts after some days. I can keep basil in the kitchen for weeks in a water bowl or vase that way. I tip off the flower tops. I rarely change the water, just add some if it gets low so it gets swampy. When the basil sprouts, I find a pot of potting soil and shove them in there and water the heck out of it. Voila, basil plants. I put it outside unless it is cold, and I keep it inside in a sunny place. Mostly if the winter is too gloomy or cold, I keep it in water.

You can never have enough herbs.

Also plant red new potatoes. They are good sliced on pizza with pesto (toss in pesto first). Yeah Yeah too much starch - who cares. Put a cherry tomato slice or two you also grew in pots on them.

If you want adventure try asparagus and broccoli - also great with pesto.