late august garden update

so summer is falling down and its been raining for 4 days. i can't believe its almost over. this transition, summer into autumn, is my least favorite time of year. it makes my heart sink. all i can think about is making some big change in my life to keep me occupied enough not to fall prey to the sadness. the dreary-time-of-year deep blues. i better stock up on vitamin D supplements while i have an income. i'm already thinking of jumping off the deep end and moving to an unfamiliar place...

anyway. the garden is just becoming abundant. here and there i had little harvests, but now there are real meals going on. and soon it will be even more plentiful! there are so many big green tomatoes about to turn, and about a dozen cucumbers almost done plumping. the corn, oh, the corn! its not ready yet, but its got ears! and hair! like a real baby! i love my corn babies. i can't wait to partake in their delicious! here are some pictures:


the whole darn thing


nature's candy, sugar cherry tomatoes, everyones' favorite snack.


flamingo peppers... i'm not sure if they're done maturing so i let them get a little older for now...




the flowering bloody butcher corn, so pretty!



ground cherries. of the cossack pineapple variety. these things are so amazing. nutty and sweet and tangy and buttery almost... they're so odd and delicious!!! yum. and prolific plants, man.


sugar snap peas and muskmelon leaves... i can't wait for the melons!!!

there a lots more garden pics on flickr- cayenne pepper, 5-color peppers, more corn pics, broccoli, and such if it fancies you to look at growing things.







love

summer salad

i do not like lettuce. only butter/boston/bibb lettuce that is green and watery and not bitter at all. i do NOT like bitter lettuce. keep your endives and frisee, you gourmand. give me the sweet stuff.

i like to use herbs as my salad greens, and pea shoots are another fave. anyway. here's an easy, delicious salad to make when peaches are ripe and beautiful heirloom tomatoes are juicy.



cilantro, tomato, avocado, peach, and squeezes of lime+orange juices. that's it.
so good.

i made a small, personal portion and put it in a tortilla wrap, to go.

saucy saucy sauce.

my girl, disaster, has some garden-happy neighbors. they gave her enough roma tomatoes to fill a shopping basket to the brim. more the microwave-and-takeout type, she kept trying to pawn them off, and i'd have gladly taken them, but she was piqued when i said, SAUCE!

so. we did it!

roma tomatoes are made to be sauce. they are the sauciest saucy tomatoes.
they have nipples, like this:



to remove the skins, you can blanch them (boil in vigorously boiling water for about 30 seconds) and bathe them in cold water, then puncture the peel with a knife and it will slide right off.



"this must be what eyeballs feel like, right when you take them out of a skull and they're still warm." -jenny

after they're peeled, you have to squish them into submission.


it feels really smooshygoobleyucky like, in a fun way.



we sifted the seeds out, lots of them anyway, by using a collander and a sieve.



you end up with this brainy meaty paste and the juice


other ingredients:
garlic (a whole head, if you like it) diced
a large onion, diced
a handful of fresh herbs that you like- i used a whole bunch:
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, and oregano, and basil, all fresh from my garden, except the oregano.

i used a dash of red wine vinegar and paprika also.



i added chpped parsley and basil to the onions and garlic while browning them in a little cooking oil, with salt, and added the dash of vinegar at this stage also.




add the brains



and the juice


and sizzle it for awhile on low.

jenny made separate sauce. she added canned tomato puree and didnt use the tomato brains from the romas we prepared, just the juice. her sauce was a lot saucier:


she put a little too much crushed red pepper, and it was a spicey spicey sauce. still delicious, just a point to watch for next time.

i ate my sauce with gluten-free corn+quinoa spaghetti, and jenny used some ziti noodles. SOOOOOOOOO YUMMMY!!!!!! i saved the seeds so next year i can plant a giant roma tomato crop and do it again at greater volume. YUM.