Here's some highlights from the harvests this week:
Chocolate Stripes tomatoes.
These are the best tasting variety so far.
Perhaps the prettiest tomato in the garden this year.
Gigantesque has produced the ugliest tomato so far.
The yellow tomato is Lennie and Gracie's Kentucky Heirloom.
We ate the first one the other night and it is delicious.
Yellow tomatoes are usually blah tasting to me, but not L & G.
Sweetie Baby romaine lettuce.
We need to eat more salads this week, the heat is pushing these babies to bolt.
They are still sweet in spite of their lengthening cores.
Strawberries! Enough to freeze some for future smoothies.
I made pizzas the other night and instead of using tomato sauce I baked a pizza crust topped with strips of prosciutto, sliced mozzarella and capers, then I topped the baked pizza with a mixture of chopped fresh tomatoes, olive oil, and basil. Mmm, I really liked the contrast of the fresh tomatoes on the hot pizza. I also made a Meyer Lemon and Smoked Trout pizza which is always a favorite around here and since it is fig season I topped another pizza with sliced figs, shredded duck confit and pine nuts - yum. I also experimented with a dessert pizza topped with creme fraiche, honey, sliced peaches, and sliced almonds and it came out pretty darned good also.
Earlier last week when we had a surprisingly delightful heatwave (it got over 100 one day) I made good use of the tomatoes and cucumbers that had finally become plentiful and made a large batch of gazpacho. A perfect treat for a warm summer evening.
Here's my harvest totals for the week:
Garafal Oro romano beans - 4 lb., 6.5 oz.
Piracicaba Broccoli - 1 lb., 8.5 oz.
Chamomile - 1 oz.
Suyo Long cucumbers - 2 lb., 8.5 oz.
Diamond eggplant - 9.75 oz.
Malaysian Dark Red eggplant - 13.75 oz
Sweetie Baby romaine lettuce - 1 lb., 13.75 oz.
Cuerno de Cabra peppers - 5 oz.
Donkey Ears peppers - 6 oz.
Padron peppers - 9.5 oz.
Mara des Bois strawberries - 8.25 oz.
Seascape strawberries - 2 lb., 14.5 oz.
Ananas Noir tomatoes - 7 lb., 3.25 oz.
Andine Cornue tomatoes - 3 lb., 12.5 oz.
Aunt Ruby's cherry tomatoes - 1 lb., 10.25 oz.
Chocolate Stripes tomaotes - 2 lb., 11 oz.
Galinas cherry tomatoes - 15 oz.
Gigantesque tomatoes - 7 lb.
Katja tomaotes - 13 oz.
Lennie and Gracie's Kentucky Heirloom tomaotes - 9.75 oz.
Zucchini - 5 lb., 9 oz.
Total this week - 46 lb., 13.25 oz.
Total this year - 434 lb. 14.75 oz.
If you have a harvest that you would like to show off then head on over to Daphne's Dandelions and join in the fun or just go to ogle other garden bloggers' goodies.
YUM! Adding Chocolate Stripes to next year's wish list. What a great harvest week for you.
ReplyDeleteReading about those pizzas is making me hungry! The Chocolate Stripes tomatoes are beautiful. That's a new one on me, I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeletethose tomatoes are so cool looking. Oooh, those pizzas sound awesome. Especially the fig one!
ReplyDeleteThe Chocolate Stripe tomato look so pretty, and the trout pizza sounds good, gotta try it someday.
ReplyDeletemm garden lettuce, it has been so long, must plant some! With your chocolate striped recommendation I need to give it another try.
ReplyDeleteChocolate strips are new to me also, I'll have to try them if they do well at your place.
ReplyDeleteYour strawberries are doing great. It seems you beat the rodents and now you are reaping the rewards for your diligence.
I was also making gazpacho during those hot days. Nothing like a cold cup of gazpacho when it gets so hot.
Chocolate Stripes tomatoes look beautiful. Is the inside also dark in color?
ReplyDeleteI had also some "ugly" tomatoes, just like that one. What might be the reason for such a strange looking tomato? Maybe poor pollination.
I am feeling totally inspired to do some pizzas this coming weekend! Where do you get all those good ideas for the combinations? Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThe chocolate stripe tomatoes look like they would have great flavor and a pleasing appearance when sliced. I wish I had better summers' here as I really do enjoy the beautiful heirloom varieties but most of them just take too long (and need too much heat) for my growing conditions. (sigh)
the strawberries?!?! we haven't had a crop like that since spring. I'm so jealous.
ReplyDeleteNartaya, Chocolate Stripes is a good tomato to wish for, I'll definitely try it again next year.
ReplyDelete---
villager, I think that the mention of pizza makes most of us hungry. :)
---
meemsync, the fig one is a favorite around here, we love figs any way we can get them.
---
mac, even my 12 year old nephew loved the trout pizza!
---
Dan, it is about time for that in your neck of the woods, isn't it?
---
Angela, the Chocolate Stripes should grow for you, especially when we have a more normal summer. I think the cool weather and lots of attention to rat traps helped the strawberries. But now they seem to be setting less fruit so I hope I get one more wave of them later in the fall.
---
vrtlarica, the insides of the Chocolate stripes has the same color pattern, it's very distinctive. I'll have to remember to take a photo next time I slice some. It is uneven pollination that causes the disfigured tomaotes, we call it "catfacing" here.
---
kitsapFG, I just think of flavor combinations that I like and then put them on top of pizza. The Chocolate Stripes is earlier than a lot of heirlooms, Tomatofest (my seed source) classifies it as a mid-season tomato and it is proving to be that in my garden. It is certainly doing better than expected this cool summer.
abigail, the strawberries!?!? is right, I had almost given up on them in the face of rodent problems. And our cool summer weather means that flower production didn't shut down so when the rodent numbers lessened I actually got some berries!
ReplyDeleteWow! I love the look of those stripped tomatoes. I will definitely have to consider them for next year. I have found yellow tomatoes to be blah too. I don't know if they are worth growing again.
ReplyDeleteAnd it looks like you got your critter problem under control. Look at those strawberries!
Thomas, I'm going to try Lennie & Gracie's again next year, they ripen late but these first ones have tasted so good that I'm going to try again next year and hope for a warmer summer. I don't know if the critters are actually under control, but I'll enjoy the reprieve from their munching while it lasts!
ReplyDeleteFigs, duck and trout on pizzas? Wow, you're so gourmet. :) All your pizza combinations sound really delicious. Like everyone else, I also think that those chocolate stripes are beautiful. Good to know that they taste great, too!
ReplyDeleteI think ugly tomatoes are gorgeous! I have some with noses too :)
ReplyDeletei'm glad your second try with Chocolate Stripes paid off so handsomely Michelle!
ReplyDeletei got to prepare your zucchini tart recipe this past week and wanted to let you know that it was really delicious (and endlessly adaptable). i have passed the recipe along to one or two friends already. Thanks for sharing ; )
Dang I want to eat at your house. That fig pizza sounds really good. I could never make a pizza like that here as my hubby won't eat it. I did put a lot of sauteed veggies on my side though. His was plain cheese.
ReplyDeletethyme2garden, I consider pizza to be a blank slate just waiting for me to cover it with my favorite flavors. :)
ReplyDelete---
Stevie, the ugly ones are kinda like cute pets, lovable in their ugliness, but edible....
---
Julie, You're welcome, I'm glad you like the recipe.
---
Daphne, If you're ever in the neighborhood, come on by and have a snack. :-) I am so lucky that my husband eats just about anything that I put in front of him and he really loves vegetables.
That Gigantesque is spectacular. I love thumbs and fingers on my tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you still have meyer lemons to make pizza with--ours are long gone. After about June, they just can't hang on the tree anymore, and the few that are left on fall in wet shplots on the ground. Your cooler climate must allow them to hang longer.
Such pretty produce you grow. I love stopping by here.