Growth! (Too much, even)

In my last post, I mentioned basil from my garden. One would think that suggested I've had success in this realm...one would be wrong. My basil seed had one tiny tiny sprout...and then it died. This is a common problem here in the Northwest - it's just not hot and sunny for long enough, and the basil can't tough it out like the rest of us. But to me, summer is caprese salad. My local farmers market has tomatoes early on, since it's a relatively short drive across the Cascade Mountains to the warm and dry climate, so I feel like I should make caprese...and last weekend I ran out of patience. Trader Joe's, which just opened down the street, had $3 basil, so I figured it was worth it. Well, I got down there and it wasn't bundles, like I assumed, but full-on plants!

 I clipped what I needed and plopped the remaining plant (or five, actually - quite a deal, this) right into the dirt that had once held a tiny spring of short-lived basil, and have had multiple caprese salads since, with these fun black zebra tomatoes from the market (and those other pretty orange ones...I forget what they are, though). So, I kind of (totally) cheated, but the end result is good, no?

In related news, my own tomato plants have had a growth spurt, including the one I planted from seed - I think it has almost caught up to the start I bought, which is very exciting.

Even better, the mint and rosemary - while not quite thriving - have recovered from their various ailments, (I don't think I talked about the mint here, but it had this weird white foam on it for a while which seems to have been harmless) and my peas are happily popping along in what the rest of the country calls "cool spring-like weather". 

The spinach does well in this climate, too - I've only got one little pot of it, but have gotten multiple salads and omelettes out of it. I just cut it back again - it's growing so fast that some of it was on the verge of bolting. 


I'm still having some challenges, though. For one thing, my thyme might be the slowest growing thing ever. I have approximately one recipe's worth, fully two months after I planted it. And those tomatoes have some sort of odd underleaf drooping happening. Google seems to suggest this is normal, but previous plants haven't done this, that I recall. On the upside, the only droopy branches are the ones that are leaves only, not blossoms or beginnings of tomatoes. I'm trying to make myself prune them...my first tomato attempt, on my deck back in Portland, went totally unpruned because I had no clue what I was doing. This led to a 6 foot cherry tomato plant. Literally. Needless to say, it wasn't the sturdiest thing in the world. 


So here's my challenge, and I need ideas. My sage plant has gone CRAZY. It kind of muddled along last summer, and just barely survived the winter...and suddenly it's huge, and when I wasn't looking it started producing gigantic leaves. I've trimmed it and frozen some, since all the recipes I typically use sage for are autumnal (roast poultry, roast pork)...and I have plenty of it dried already. What do I do with the rest?? Would love suggestions...