Finally got the basil in:
Okay, so I should have taken the picture before replacing the screen.
I would have done this earlier in the week except that I was a) sick, and, as a result of a, b) tired. And it was rather cool here last week.
Anyway, I only planted 6 plants this year and it seemed a bit sparse, so I checked last year’s blog posts (search=basil), and it looked like I crammed in more plants (which, given that they pretty much gave up the ghost by mid-summer, might have been too many*).
I’m thinkin’ that the nursery last year sold them in 4-packs (and I bought 2) and this year in six-packs, hence the six.
(I did have two 6-packs in hand at one point, but was dubious, so I finally read the little plastic info thingy the nursery sometimes includes in plants, and it said to *plant ’em 8″ apart. Yeah, 12 plants in a 16″ box woulda been too many.)
Anyway, the basil box is back. One of the few unreservedly good things about summer.
AbsurdBeats 
Nice. Do you make pesto? I haven’t had that in several years.
on yer way to a good margherita pizza, just need some tomatoes.
have you been following bernie sanders, what a joy to see that balloon fly
@tcb: Yep. I start with the basic “Joy of Cooking” recipe and adjust it: fewer pine nuts and much more garlic, enough olive oil to get the consistency I want. Since I end up freezing them (in those little 3oz Glad containers), I don’t add the cheese right away: instead, I leave some room in the containers for more oil & the cheese after thawing.
Fresh pesto is best, but since I use it far more often as a spread (cold & grilled) cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, etc., than on pasta (tho’ I do use it on pasta), it’s fine. I put a square of saran wrap on the pesto, tucking it all around to keep out air, put the lid on it, then freeze ’em all upright. Once frozen, I toss them in a bag and stuff it back into the freezer. I haven’t had a problem with burn.
@dmf: Oh, margherita is my FAVORITE pizza, but given my options for a good slice, I doubt I could do it justice.
As for Mr. Bernie, I might actually get off my ass to volunteer for him. Again, I think I’ll be voting for the former secretary of state come November of ’16, but why not push left while I can?