Basil and Pesto--the tastes of summer!

Summer of 2008 was a wonderful season in North Central Washington--just the right amount of heat, and virtually every day was a sunny day.

We grew six varieties of basil this year--Italian Large Leaf, purple ruffles, Thai basil, holy basil, lemon basil, and Aftrican blue basil.

The photos show our largest harvest of the Italian Large Leaf, from our plot at Solid Rock Farm, Chelan, WA. We processed more basil into pesto this year, than in any year since we were commercial pesto producers on our large farm/food processing operation in the midwest.

Now comes the cold season of late fall and winter, when we all appreciate the bright flavors of summer. We look forward to sharing our basil and pesto in The Healthy Gourmet cuisine throughout the time between now and our first basil harvest of 2009, which we expect in late June.

Yes, winter is coming, but spring is always just around the corner!