Unpacking the Harvest

This is the basket of produce from my vegetable garden this morning.

Here's a closer look at what's in there.

Two heads of lettuce.  There's lots more to come there.

Zucchini and yellow squash, though 3 of these were harvested yesterday.

A very long cucumber which was a surprise since the plants are dying and I don't know why.

And a Jimmy Nardello pepper.

Almost the last tomatoes.  There will probably some Juliette yet but the others are basically dead.

Three butternut squash.  In cutting the largest one off the vine I cut the entire vine not realizing that at the other end were very small squash starting to develop.  Oh, well.  These are headed to cure in the sun.  I don't know why I do that other than my mother did it with her plentiful harvests of butternuts each fall.  Maybe a fellow gardener can enlighten me on this tradition.

Joining Daphne's Harvest Monday

Tomatoes

Back from vacation.  Lots of tomatoes to pick - two big baskets full.

There is a mix of roma, Juliette, Cherokee purple, Goldie, Tasti Lee and some other varieties.

Most of these went into three big bags, sealed and frozen for winter use to make sauce.

There are more to be picked in the days ahead plus the tomato plants which are rapidly dying need to be pulled.

Linked to Harvest Monday hosted by Daphne.

Vegetable Garden This Month

It's a waiting game in the vegetable garden.  

Waiting for the beans to get long enough.  

Waiting for the squash to bloom. 

Waiting for the tomatoes to fatten and color up. 

  Waiting for the peppers to form.  

Waiting to harvest.  Even the garlic I pulled this week doesn't count as a harvest since it has to cure in the garage.

 

 

 I wonder though how long I have before the tomatoes give it up.

Look at the yellowing leaves.  Blight?  Too much rain?

Now my volunteer tomato growing behind the compost bin and through my fence is doing just fine.  I think its a Juliette.

Truly Summer Because ...

... the first tomatoes have ripened! Well, so what if they're cherry tomatoes. They still were delicious. And more to come from the other three varieties in the weeks ahead.

A Last!

I had a hunger for homemade tomato sauce last night so out came the last two bags of tomatoes from the freezer. No more tomatoes from last year's garden to make sauce with after last night. I'll have to wait until late July which is when these bags were frozen. It was good. Recipe is simple: saute onions in olive oil, add the tomatoes and basil (this was also frozen but there's some of that left), a bit of salt, pepper and a tablespoon of sugar. Once its cooked down well puree with stick blender. We had it with meatballs and yellow squash (in lieu of pasta).


Oops. Forgot to take a photo of the sauce pureed. You get the idea. It was so good!

Favorite Tomato Sauce

Years ago Country Living Magazine had a wonderful food editor. Can't speak for the one they have now since I stopped subscribing a couple of years ago. A recipe from a long ago issue I have usurped as my all time favorite is for tomato sauce. It has three main ingredients: diced onions, tomatoes quartered, and basil. There is also salt and pepper and sugar to taste.



I saute the onions in olive oil until they're soft then add the tomatoes and basil. Stir occasionally to mix up the onions.

Everything cooks down. Add the sugar, salt and pepper (thought lately I've been doing without the salt).
Use an immersion blender to blend it all into a lovely sauce.

I know I didn't give you any quantities because I just use what I think. You will have to do the same. The sugar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes, so make it as sweet as you like. The amount of basil and onion is also a personal preference for those flavors. Enjoy on pasta with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. It's what's for dinner tonight!

1st Yellow Tomato Ever

First Tomato

The first tomato of the 2010 season is an Amish Paste tomato. Unfortunately it got its genomes crossed and instead of growing long and cylindrical it tried to become a sphere like other varieties.

Short-lived Joy

This morning when watering I spotted a rosy tomato. Wow! My first one! Rutgers won the race.

Closer inspection revealed that it suffers from blossom end rot. Oh well, the next one can't be long to wait for.

Morning Surprise

I have tomato seedlings! I checked them this morning to water and there were three sprouts coming out of three different cells. I moved the whole cell pak in the greenhouse to the lights. I'll post pictures another time.

It was very fast considering I seeded these on Monday afternoon.