Harvest Time

Today was one of those Little Piece of Heaven days. Cool in the shade, comfortable in the sun with sweaters on, today was the day to bring in the sweet potatoes and the basil. We are getting close to frost time (avg first frost date November 6). Here are shots of the basil:

Before the harvest, being smothered by tomato plants.

Look how huge the plants were this year!

I don't know how purists do it, but I strip the leaves off into a bowl (with a cat warm from the sun snuggling up to my back as I sit on the ground), swish in water to clean, spin in salad spinner to dry, wrap in wax paper or parchment paper in recipe-sized increments, and freeze. When I go to make tomato-basil soup, I just remove the right-sized packet, crumble the frozen basil, and dump it in the soup. It works for me.