Thursday, July 21, 2011

Cherry tomatoes


Cherry tomatoes from my garden! This is one of those foods that taste best when actually eaten in the garden. In our house, they rarely make it inside. If you want to eat them, you just go outside and pick yourself a snack.

I don't have a good setup to start things early from seed, so I get my tomato seedlings from Verrill Farm in Concord, MA. You can order them in March/Arpil each year for pick-up in May. This is my fourth year buying from them and I haven't had a bad tomato season yet. The first year, I lived in a semi-urban neighborhood and was concerned with the lack of bees for pollination.Since tomatoes are self-pollinating, and really only need a little vibration to get things rolling, I went out to my front yard, where all my potted tomatoes lived, electric toothbrush in hand. A little vibration to the back of each tiny yellow flower, and--magic! Baby tomatoes!

It might have been a bit crazy, and my former neighbors may have breathed a sigh of relief when I moved (with my full-grown tomato plants) late that summer, but I had a bumper crop that year!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Swiss chard


Swiss chard from my garden!  As a novice gardener, I have found these to be one of the easiest things to grow. It doesn't mind heat too much, and keeps producing until fall. This is my favorite variety, Bright Lights, because it is so colorful. I could eat a giant plate of any type of garden greens every day. Sauté them in a little olive oil with garlic, and sprinkle some lemon juice and sea salt over it just before eating. Delicious!

Oh, and they're good for you, too.