As I sit here to type, the smell of basil is wafting over and filling my senses with its exotic rich warm greenness. Something about that fresh intense basil smell just is summer to me. The hot sunny days and the thick sultry nights just make its aroma intensify until it just overtakes any other smells around it.
Picking up our CSA tonight the first thing I smelled was the basil. Driving down the driveway at the farm I had that deep summer feeling - the insects chirping, the birds singing, the wind rustling the trees, the air thick with heat but also the promise of cooler evening, and far off on the gently rolling hills the spray of water on the crops. Today our bounty is of the summer - peppers, tomatoes, basil, onion, cucumbers, broccoli, beans, summer squash, lettuce, potatoes, and fresh uncured garlic. And no, that is not a head of cauliflower in the pictures, it is a 4 year old boy (although he posed, intentionally silly, giggling hysterically).
Our own peppers and tomatoes have also been ripening daily, and the favorite activity of the boys is to go from plant to plant to pick whatever is ready. The minute we got in from picking up our CSA tonight I sliced through the warm tomatoes from the farm and our garden, sliced up some of that fresh basil, sprinkled it over the top of the tomatoes along with some fresh pure grey salt, and drizzled organic balsamic vinegar over the top - mmmmmmm.
We are in the midst of a drought here in south central Wisconsin. It has not rained in our immediate area in ages, it seems. Rain continues to pop up all around us, but *just* miss us here. Our lawns are all brown, but driving in the country tonight the intense green of corn, soybeans, vegetables, prairie grass and thick forests still look lush and green - but not much longer. There is a massive line of storms moving down from the north and we hope hope HOPE they do drench us tonight. So while my farm pics may look dark and gray, they are actually hopefully cloudy. Here's hoping.
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