Easy Gardening

I admit I have a hard time thinning vegetable plants that grow on vines, but they take up so much space. If you dont have a lot of room in your garden, and you want to grow the crawlers that would cover a football field if left on their own, the only place to go is up.

Cucumbers, summer squash, beans, melons and peas will use a lot less ground space if you create some simple trellises to support their upward mobility, and its likely you have materials around the garage or shed that will work just fine. Tomato cages, for example, can support a lot more than tomatoes. They are the perfect size for climbing varieties of peas and beans.

A section of fence can support many kinds of vines. I consider the waist high fence that surrounds my garden to keep out critters as the perfect structure to support my gourds and bean plants.

Want to get the whole family involved making artsy one-season plant supports? Assemble building supplies such as string and strips of fabric for tying, bamboo poles, small tree branches and worn-out long-handled garden implements, and encourage everyone to get creative. This can be a lot of fun as ingenuity meets structural engineering. Send me photos of your finished projects.

By the way, items such as old wooden chairs that you were going to throw out, a rusty bicycle and an old ladder can do double duty as support for plants and charming garden sculpture.

Presto pesto

I am working through a plethora of basil leaves, adding them to every dish imaginable. And I have every intention of freezing pesto in ice cube trays this year so I can savor the taste of fresh basil next winter when there is a foot of snow on the ground. For the moment, however, I am enjoying pesto experimentation.

I like starting with a basil-based pesto: basil leaves, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic and a bit of balsamic vinegar. Then I add varying amounts of parsley, thyme and rosemary (shall we throw in sage too, just so we can hum the song?)

Pesto also typically includes pine nuts, but walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds all make tasty variations.

And what do you put that pesto on? As far as Im concerned, the sky is the limit. Pasta is a great place to start, but dont stop there. Use it liberally in place of butter to season boiled or roasted vegetables such as new potatoes, cauliflower and carrots. Blend it into chicken salad. Drizzle it on toast and top with fresh tomato slices for a lovely appetizer or light lunch. Serve it in a small bowl for dunking bread to accompany spaghetti or lasagna. Add a good helping to vegetable soup. Mix it with mayonnaise to make a dip for raw vegetables.

I havent tried pesto ice cream, yet. If you do, let me know how it is.

Erin Caudell is outreach program coordinator for the Ruth Mott Foundation. She can be reached at .

Similar Posts:

• The Grafted Tomato Challenge
• You don’t need a farm to be a farmer
• Embrace Your Heritage! 6 Places to Buy Heirloom Seeds
• Heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables growing in popularity (with 5 tips for growing a bountiful crop)
• Growing Micro-Leaves