Friday, June 20, 2008

First fruits of the season!

A couple of days ago, I took this picture of my first ripening tomato. A lovely looking striped hybrid called Red Lightening that I am trying for the first time this year.

Today, I wanted to check on how completely the color was on the fruit and to see how firmly it was still attached to the vine. You know, in case it wanted to drop into my hand for eating!

Rotten tomato... definitely a boy!

Unfortunately, as I checked it's underside (to see if it was a boy tomato or a girl one,) there was an enormous spot of blossom end rot! Arg! It was promptly snipped from the vine, so it wouldn't spread it's rottenness to the other innocent tomatoes and I pitched it into the woods with my best girly throw.

Miss Sassy took off after the tomato as if it was a shiny red ball, retrieved it, and then promptly ate it on the lawn. Sorry, no pictures of my garbage disposing dog! But she was kind of like Nick was last year with his frozen watermelon!

After the tomato-eater and her consort were back in the house, I went out to see what wild blackberries were ready to be plucked. I came back an hour later with this many:

About a quart of fresh blackberries.

which I took down to the farmer's market and sold for $2.00 for the quart. Yep. I'm a farmer, and I make $2.00 an hour being assaulted by vicious blackberry plants and dive-bombed by flying, buzzing insects!

But I also pulled some wild garlic plants, which had already bloomed (this is how I knew they were garlic... duh!) so I'm not sure how good the bulbs will be. They are on the porch drying and trying to keep from being eaten by the garbage disposal dog!

Oh! And I just now harvested my first spaghetti squash! I micro-cooked it and added butter, garlic and parmesan...yum!

Little, but it's so tasty!

So, I am a happy, underpaid farmer/forager with a veggie-eating canine companion! Life is good!

9 comments:

Akhila's Handblog said...

Yummy fruits.

Regarding your question about crochet hooks - I have used 3 mm crochet hook and yarn: Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton DK, Machine Washable Mercerised.
The crochet hook converter I found says 2.75mm = US C/2 and 3.25mm = US D/3.
Hope this helps.
Akhila

MarmiteToasty said...

What a pretty tomatoe lol well if tomatoes can be called pretty that is....

you have blackberries that are ripe NOW? goodness ours dont grow and ripen until September when I send hours and hours down the back lanes picking and picking every few days.... I picked pounds and pounds and one year I converted them all into blackberry wine lol.... it took over 2 years to ferment into readyness and only 2 hours to drink straight from the demi johns at a barn dance we went to lol....and jebus was that homemade wine strong or what :)....... did I really dance on a table with a rubber chicken lol

x

Wendy said...

Mmmm! Blackberries!

I love summer ;).

Lisa said...

Yes, girls, it is the start of blackberry season here in Tennessee! Last year Almost Grown and I made about 8 plastic jars of freezer jam, and since Stud Muffin won't eat it, I am still wading through last year's supply.

This year looks to be much more productive 'cause of all the rain we've had, so there will be way too many berries. i am trying to develop a relationship with the local farm stand, so will try to sell them as many berries as i can get. The wild berries always go fast!

sewtakeahike said...

Hi Lisa! I turn a pale shade of green each time I see the bounty from your garden. I wish you could beam some of those extra blackberries to me and then I'd beam you back at least one pie, or maybe two. A friend gave me some rhubarb this weekend so at least I'll be able to make a strawberry rhubarb pie today. That kinda softens the blow, a little bit.

MarmiteToasty said...

Wine...... thats the way to go..... hedgerow blackberry wine..... try flogging that at the farmers market it will go down a storm :)

x

Lisa said...

Penny~ I wish i could send out some berries, but they ooze through the envelope (don't ask how i know this!) But, some day soon, i will have spaghetti squash that could be mailed... got 20 of them happily growing!

Marmy~ You better spill on the recipe for the "Dancin' On The Table" blackberry wine! Even tho I live in a "dry' county (no liquor sales... the shock and horror!) Might need to try some for myself... strictly for medicinal purposes of course!

Celticspirit said...

Yummy stuff! We had tons of wild blackberries growing when we were in SC but I was afraid to pick them cause the people at my work there told me to watch out for chiggers! I didn't even know what they were but I didn't want to get bitten by them.

Mysti said...

If I didn't think Tennessee was to close to my mother-in-law (yeah, I consider Chicago and Tenn. to close LOL) I'd wanna live next door. You have an awesome place and your garden is looking fantastic! :)