Tomato Harvest Recipe

I'm ready for Fall, cooler weather and fresh vegetables. I know it's not even September yet, but the kids are back in school today so that's close enough for me.  Here's my first recipe of the season:

White Bean Tomato Salad


1 can of Cannellini, Navy or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

2 beautiful tomatoes, diced

2 T. olive oil

1 t. lemon juice

2 t. white wine vinegar

1 t. minced garlic or shallot

Salt and pepper to taste

(You could substitute bottled Italian dressing for a quick meal)

Gently mix the beans and tomatoes together in a medium sized bowl. Stir together the next four ingredients in a small jar or bowl, then pour over tomatoes and beans. Mix gently and let sit for five minutes. Add salt and black pepper, then taste; if your beans do not have much salt you may find it needs more.

Serve with bread for a light supper.

Optional ingredients:

Diced fresh celery
Slivers of fresh basil leaves or a little chopped fresh parsley
A little grated Parmesan
A little feta cheese

 Pepper/Helmet Head

How does the garden grow?

Well, this year it has been doing beautifully.

It is the first year that we really made a serious vegetable garden.

We picked out a nice sunny spot, got some fencing that would keep even the deer out. Drove over an hour to get some black gold from my girlfriend’s stable. Decided what vegetables we wanted to grow and how they would be planted so the tallest wouldn’t shade the shorter plants.

Okay so we didn’t plant it perfectly and will have some improvements for next year. But you live and learn…right?

We must have planted about a dozen different tomato plants and they got huge! Tons of tomatoes popping out all over…..just have to wait for them to ripen…..

Oh wait….here comes a little chipmunk.

shrumgraphics

He runs right through the fencing.

I didn’t think too much about it until I saw one of the tomato plants quivering. I went out to the garden and sure enough the chipmunk was munching on about 5 different tomatoes!

He even climbed up the plant and half chewed ones still on the vine.

tracyemueller

So now each day I go and check out the tomatoes to see if any are just starting to turn. If they are, I pick them and let them ripen inside.

I gather the half eaten ones and put them near the fence hoping that the chipmunk will finish them off and leave the others alone.

I got the tomato situation (sort of) under control and then I see that there are some ears of corn ready to be picked.

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This corn tasted soooo good! I don’t know if it was because they were so fresh or the fact that we grew them.

I notice that over the next few days that I will be able to pick some more ears, and I can’t wait. 

Now why is that corn stalk shaking like that? 

OH! 

There is a squirrel sitting in my corn stalk!

autumnlaneartistry

I walk (quickly) to the garden and the squirrel peeks at me and takes off, guess he knew I was pissed…

I look at the corn and he climbed up each corn stalk and stripped away the husk and ate one side of each cob.

I don’t mind sharing, but it would have been nice if they ate one or two whole corn cobs and left a few of the others….why eat only half?

*hmph*

The squirrel must have come back looking for more because now my corn stalks are all bent and broken. I can’t even use them for fall decorations……

Now, I am just waiting for the chipmunks and squirrels to discover my chili peppers….HA!

stephaniemirocha

(jj)