First Tomato Harvest: Panzanella Magic

It's Saturday afternoon; we had some homemade bread, some fresh off the vine tomatoes and some basil....

And the magic happened. This is why we do all of the work that we do. The flavors cannot possibly translate visually.

In this bowl is half a loaf of Moosewood focaccia, cubed and toasted; several chopped tomatoes; two chopped cucumbers; 2 tablespoons of capers; a couple of tablespoons of chiffonnaded basil; half a cup of olive oil; quarter of a cup of balsamic vinegar; salt and pepper. Heavenly.

You can add a handful of cubed or grated cheese of your choice. We added cubed yogurt cheese this time and loved it (we're saving our fresh mozzarella for caprese tomorrow).

We also enjoyed the bonito tuna (from Time for Tapas) atop ritz crackers. I highly recommend it.

Food doesn't have to be fussy or formal in order to be transcendent.

Show and Tell

A robin enjoys garden 2; taken from inside my car

I don't know how mature these beets will get, but I like the plants so much that I'll always probably plant beets from now on.

First color!

First pick! This is supposed to be deep purple, but who can wait that long?

Cayennes. They're still not red, but they're so pretty.

Grasshopper. My assistant is fascinated by these and wants to catch them all. I'm curious what it is in my garden that they like so much.

I also saw a Monarch butterfly but it wouldn't sit still.

July 2011 took 20 years off my life, but the plants keep growing.

Planting in the rain

I took a chance in pouring rain - is this a brilliant idea, or are they just going to die? - and planted the rest of the fruits/veggies in mud in garden 3: one more purple cherokee tomato, giant harvard tomato, dutch tomato, 3 roma tomato plants that did not look the greatest in the store, two green bell peppers, one red pepper. It's pouring rain now.

CSA! Hooray!

We received our first CSA share (half-share, actually). In it was leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, two pounds of  asparagus, one dozen awesome eggs. I didn't know that eggs could be so delicious. I am a big fan of Rich Carpenter and Carpenter's Organic Produce so far, and I look forward to my weekly "Christmas presents."

Other checked-off items from my checklist today include:

• cultivated garden 2.
• planted zucchini.
• planted in garden 3: Royal Prince tomato; cherokee purple tomato; two early girl tomatoes; four cayenne red peppers. "Early Girl tomatoes aren't early and aren't good," said my sister. If they're in fact early, then I'll find out soon if I agree with her. I haven't had very many tomatoes that I didn't like.