• Yeller. This yellow-orange variety arose in my garden as the result of unintentional cross-breeding of Manitoba with another unknown variety. Purchase seed.

  • Costoluto Genovese is an old Italian variety, with intense acidic flavor that is ideal for sauces. Purchase seed.

  • Koralik, as usual, was one of the earliest tomatoes to ripen, producing large yields of marble to ping-pong ball-sized fruit. Purchase seed.

  • Today wraps up the hottest driest July in the recorded history of our area, culiminating in a record 102 F Wednesday. Today will be a cool 85. The tomato crop still looks good. Here is Anna Russian.

  • My 4’x4′ patch of Alderman peas is now 8 feet tall, and loaded with a huge crop. Today I picked a bunch and shelled them – yielding about a pound of shelled peas. These are destined for dinner tonight.

  • Hot!!!

    A week of record-breaking temperatures (pushing 100 F) is ripening vegatables at a record pace. Ripe tomatoes in the garden now include Koralik, New Hampshire SureCrop, Alicante, Besser, Slava and First Pick. Here is Alicante. Hot evenings call for cold soups. Last night I made a fantastic Gazpacho. ——————————————– Gazpacho – Andalusian cold soup. Quarter…

  • First Pick

    The weather is continuing hot (85 degrees) and sunny. Tomatoes continue to flourish. True to its name, the First Pick tomato variety is among the first to ripen. This heirloom variety originated with the Baptiste family of Reims, France. Unlike most other early tomatoes, First Pick plants are large and indeterminate. They produce meaty 1″-2″…

  • Cherry Baby

    Yes, and the birds gave up on the huge crop of pie cherries, too. I pitted and canned 7 quarts of these beauties. I also made a fantastic cherry almond cake. Here is the recipe at Epicurious. I modified it slightly by using only 1 stick of butter, adding 1/4 cup corn oil, and mixing…

  • This has been a fantastic summer for blueberries. My 4 bushes are so loaded the birds have given up trying to eat them. They grace my corn flakes every morning.

  • Kraut

    My cabbages are doing magnificently, despite the recent heat. With the help of my friend Scott, I coinverted 15 lbs of cabbage into saurkraut. Here is the recipe.Cabbage was shredded in a food processor. 5 lb batches of shredded cabbage were sprinked with 3 Tbsp. of salt (non-iodized pickling salt), tossed to distribute the salt,…