I thought it might be time for an update on my (tiny) garden.

The Roma Tomatoes are pretty small, but tasty (this one topped a pizza moments after I took the picture)


I've got lots of jalapenos started, but they are all round and I'm not sure they are getting any bigger.


Beets and White Beets: Fail. I had a feeling these were not going to grow when the greens bolted when it got really hot.


I have hundreds of cherry tomatoes. They are sooo sweet and delicious. The vines are so heavy with tomatoes that I have had to add lots of extra stakes to keep them from breaking.


I have four stalks of corn and two of them have tiny ears of corn starting. Yay!

Labels: garden

While in Kansas, it seemed like every time we turned around someone was trying to feed us. No light food either, there was nary a salad in sight. In one day we had a cheesy potato breakfast casserole with bacon, ribs with potato salad and beans for lunch, and supreme pizza for dinner (then beer, lots of beer). Now I'm not saying it wasn't good (the ribs were some of the best I've had) there was just so darn much of it.

Since I've been home I've been craving really light food (and spicy Asian-style food, but that's another story). Today I decided to make myself a light, but indulgent lunch. And, I decided my tomato was finally ready.

Here's the ingredients (for one person):

A couple handfuls of campanelle pasta (I decided on this shape because I thought it would hold the diced tomatoes nicely)
1 Roma tomato
several leaves of basil (these are from my garden, too)
1 clove of garlic, mashed to a paste
olive oil (the good stuff)
a bit of really good Parmigiano-Regianno cheese

I started by cooking the pasta in well-salted water. While this cooked, I diced the tomato (into 1/4" dice), julienned the basil and mashed the garlic. If you've never done this, here's how.

Start by chopping the garlic.

Sprinkle it with kosher salt.

With the knife almost parallel to the cutting board, mash the salt and garlic together.

Keep going until you get a paste.

Once the pasta was cooked through, I drained it, returned it to the pan and added the garlic paste right away (just to take the edge off of it). I added a generous drizzle of olive oil, the diced tomatoes and the basil. The heat of the pasta warmed the tomato and made a nice light sauce. I topped the dish with a bit of cheese and a sprinkle of sea salt.

So good, and exactly what I had been craving. Light and summery and so flavorful. It was so exciting to take my first harvest from my garden and turn it into something so delicious.

Labels: garden, pasta, summer, vegetarian

You may remember this tomato (it was there when I planted the garden).

Today, it looks like this. So close. Still a little firm, but in a few days...


My neighbor, who just moved here from Nebraska (so he knows corn), told me that if it is "knee high by the 4th of July" it should be good. Mine is, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


This is my first cherry tomato to show up. It is so tiny, maybe 1/4". But I can tell from the blossoms, more are on the way.

Labels: garden

Today I did some planting. In the herb garden I added rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme and basil (I already have sage, chives, garlic chives, mint and oregano growing). I wanted to plant some nasturtiums but the plant store did not have any.

In the back yard I added a very small container garden in an area where we are thinking about planting beds next year.

This is our shed (yep, the husband and I are pretty artsy), with the pots right in front.

On the left I've got roma tomatoes, jalapenos, corn (which I have doubts about) and red beets.

On the right I've got cherry tomatoes, "kung pao" peppers, white beets, and brussel sprouts.

I don't know if any of it will produce produce, but it'll be fun trying.

At the very least, this tomato should ripen up.

Labels: garden