I think it might be fun comment on the things we are getting from our gardens. Today I picked some Chocolate Sprinkle and Black Cherry tomatoes. Both had robust flavors, not to sweet. Just right. The only way I would fault them is tough skins. Black cherry was the worst. I'll debate with myself about planting them again

Good idea. I'll add that I also like hearing about what meal will be made from the day's harvest.

Burpless cucmbers (bought plants at a local greenhouse) nice long thin cukes, very productive and mild, tasty!
(Bummed about the Black Cherry tough skins, I have two huge plants of them, waiting for them to ripen. If they're tough, I'll consider just pureeing them whole for sauce)

I picked a bowl of Sunsugar and Sweet 100 tomatoes that I have been grazing on. Picked up some luscious Ranier Cherries and White sweet corn at a farm stand. Just love the season.......

I tasted one Black Cherry tomato. It didn't seem any tougher than usual. Taste pretty good, might have wanted another day to ripen but it was my first. Going to be eating my first really good looking, fully pollinated and 'almost got away from me' medium zucchini.

Dinner last nite included fresh maters and cukes in a salad, sliced okra sauteed in olive oil with seasonings and steamed green beans. Oh yes, and a couple of Homemade fermented dill pickles. I absolutely love this time of year... Woo Hoo!

It all sounds so good!

My tomatoes are not ready but I did pick two summer squash today. Haven't made anything from them, as yet.

Right now I'm having fried zucchini. Fried up slices in a seasoned batter. I thought sprinkling some Parmesan on top after they were on the plate would be good but instead it ruined them. Next time no Parmesan!

Uh, while picking Zipper Cream peas yesterday I got to the area where the adjacent row has some Cupid cherry tomatoes. Well, my garden is kind of a jumble at this stage. The Cupids are straying into the pea row, the watermelons, and cantaloupes, and cucumbers are all kind of intermingling and trying to conquer the Zipper Creams country. Then you have the volunteer watermelons invading the peas and sweet'taters territory. Oh, and of course the Zipper Cream peas, being a bush-type of southern pea, are naturally retaliating by invading their adjacent neighbors with long vining tendrels (no, of course they're not vining peas!!! ). I think it's a global garden war for dominance going on. But, I digress...

Anyhow, once I came upon the area of the Cupid cherry tomatoes infiltration into the Zipper Creams I spotted the invading red orbs. I attempted to use diplomacy to settle the conflict by casually grabbing a Cupid, doing the customary "roll it in your fingers to knock any dirt/bug off" and plopped it in my mouth. Needless to say, there was more than one invading Cupid there, so without hesitation I grabbed another...and another....and another. When finally I had eaten the last one I saw that my diplomacy had worked (for the moment) in that I no longer saw any foreign red orbs amongst the Zipper Cream territory. But, I did spot some yellow blooming spies so I will be forced to return with my peacekeeping actions at a later date. When oh when, will these restless vegetables be satisfied within their own family's boundaries????

Oh, and later yesterday evening I had a nice salad with some of our cucumbers and large tomatoes in it. Really nice and tasty after all the peacekeeping stuff I had to do in the garden.

But, those Zipper Creams and Cupids....I gotta keep my eye on their territorial border, I foresee further conflict there!!!

Oh Ed!! Great job on the settling of the territorial disputes!!

It's a tough job keeping the peace there, but somebody's gotta do it!!!!!!!

Careful Ed. they may gang up and turn on you.

Better make sure you wear your Sheriff's badge!!

Today ate some zucchini cooked from the first few zucchini's picked here.

But it's the cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers that I am looking forward too.

Oh, I forgot to mention I sampled one of my tabasco peppers this morning while "gleaning" some tomatoes. I walked by the plants, two of'em, loaded with yellowish-green peppers, and said to myself, "Ok myself, just take a tiny nip off the end of one of these little peppers to sample the heat...it's not really *that* far to the house and some cold to pour down your throat and swish around in your mouth". Well, I took a nip off of the tip, no seeds and.....nothing. Great taste, but no heat. Hmmm, I decide to take a bigger nip with some seeds. Still not much heat, but good taste. I ended up eating the entire pepper and only got a little bit of heat off of it. It had a great taste, though, but I'm confused...aren't tabsco peppers supposed to be hot???

....or, have the peppers been conspiring with the Cupids and Zipper Creams and the innocent looking sweet-taters???? Next time I pop a whole tabasco in my mouth will it suddenly explode into molten lava????

farmerdill said:Careful Ed. they may gang up and turn on you.

There was a couple of times that I planted my feed where I *knew* there were no pea vines. Then, when I started to move down the row a foot would be wrapped up in pea vine. An accident or coincidence????...I think not!!!!!!!!! I'm thinking the tabasco peppers are already laying out sinister plans......I probably need to arm myself with a couple of pieces of cornbread before trying another tabasco pepper in the garden. Just in case....

I don't know because I never grow any hot peppers ever.

Yep, the it was an evil trick that the tabasco was setting me up for. My buddy came over this afternoon and picked some pepper while I was picking the Whiteacre peas. Well, naturally I had told him about the tabasco not being hot. And equally natural I had to take a bite of one to show him. Uh, it was a good bit more than warm...and I'll leave it at that.

Consider...the best hot peppers grow in the hottest, driest part of the country. Think Az. / New Mexico. Maybe all the rain has slowed the "hot" . The fields I've seen were in irrigated desert.