Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Tuesday, July 9th - The Banquet Begins

Last week I picked four cherry tomatoes and ate them one per day; I wanted to make the enjoyment last as long as it could. The produce always begins with a trickle and quickly transitions to a torrent but in the early days it pays to really savor each bite, knowing full well that 3 months from now we'll be back to eating pasty flavored blobs, grown in some hothouse along MX15 under the assumed name of "tomatoes." At this moment, the enjoyment is just about to begin.

This week, things continue to progress. There are perhaps a dozen eggplants ripening, an even mix between traditional purple and Asiatic white. Having had two minor visits from Rocky the Raccoon, it's clear that he has no taste for that particularly delicacy, good news as it leaves more for us to enjoy. I'm very impressed with the plants we have and really can't wait to get the first fruit on the grill, dusted with a bit of pesto and graced with some sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Our flowers continue to amaze with the very first Zinnias and Cosmos blooming. My orphan Mammoth Sunflower is just 2 inches short of 8 feet, a miracle considering that it was roughly transplanted from one of the walkways just as the heat kicked in and his four neighbors are all in the 6 foot range.

Last night we had our first dinner straight out of the garden. Caprese salad with the first Beefmaster tomatoes off of our plants and of course plenty of fresh basil. The initial bite reminded me of what a long trek through the culinary desert it is to go from October to July without a single fresh meal. We've had a few Mexican "heirloom" tomatoes this spring, no doubt manufactured to meet the growing fancy variety market and while they were good, they were not great. Dinner last night was great and I am so happy that it we are now in the season of many more just like it. In a month we'll be using the overflow to build a new supply of cheese-tomato quiche. A truly great meal, we just finished the last of last year's this past month. It had been baked and frozen on the 28th of October.

As you can see, everything is getting pretty big and green.

July 3rd
July 9th   
And a couple of flowers just because they are so very nice.





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