Salad Lunch

Tomato Salad Lunch...

This afternoon was overcast due to the expected rain but I went out to check on everything anyway. There was a cucumber that promised to be ready soon and I wanted to check on the ripening tomatoes. It seems like the only tomatoes that have shown any color, minus the ones in the container in Patch, are the ones touching the ground in some way and those have been getting ripped open, eaten in parts, or rotted from touching the ground. So I wanted to make sure I got any ripe ones out of there before that happened. It turns out I was too late for all except one. It was perfectly red and ripe with not a rip or bite to be seen. I grabbed it and two more that weren't ripe enough yet but would get torn to shreds if I didn't pick them and I grabbed to onions that were poking out of the ground. They were the perfect pearls. Then I went over to the cucumber container to find two beautiful cucumbers. One was still a little spiked so I left it to grow for another day or two. The other was the longest cucumber we've had yet and ready to eat. I took my soon to be salad inside and washed everything off. Then I grabbed a cutting board and started chopping. I took pictures along the way... When I was done with my salad I was so psyched. I had such a sense of accomplishment. With all the disappointment from the rainy summer I never thought I would get to make lunch from the veggies I'd worked so hard to grow and picked a few minutes before. The salad was amazing and even mo amazing was the way I felt about it. I really am proud of what I've done. I hope they'll be more salads in my future but if there aren't this ONE was worth it all. 

Veggies and fruits before there swift chopping. All the ingredients I used in the salad minus spices.

Cross section of the tomato and pearl onion. 

Ingredients chopped and ready to mix in a bowl with olive oil and red wine vinegar. 

After lunch...

I not back out and took a few pictures of the other goodies growing steadily...

First sizable watermelon in the container. It's almost doubled in size since I first noticed it a few days ago. 

Large ripe strawberry in the 8G container. I'll pick it tomorrow. 

Red super hot peppers starting to get bigger in container. Still light enough to grow straight up. No color on any yet. 

Cucumbies

Cucs ready for eating...

I've been busy the last couple of days so I haven't been able to sit down and write an entry but I did get in quite a bit of gardening and harvesting. I harvested 2 delicious cucumbers in the last 2 days, a handful of tomatoes, and a couple squash. All of which have either been delicious or I've been told were delicious. I went out to lunch with my Mom yesterday and then gave her a tour of the garden. She was absolutely shocked by the transformation, by how big and successful everything was. I picked a few beans and a squash for her. 

Later that day I put up the rest of the fencing because I noticed a ripe cherry tomato in the low tomato/onion bed with a bite taken out. I found the entrance or probable entrance and blocked it off. I hope it keeps either the squirrels or the chipmunks away. I want more than 1 or 2 or a handful here and there. 

Our largest watermelon to date. About the size of a cherry tomato.

The first ripe and delicious cucumber. I ate the whole thing with a sprinkle of salt. It was truly amazing! Pick Friday. 

The interior of the first cuc.

The yellow squash I picked for my Mom during her tour. She hasn't eaten it yet but Mike's mom said hers was delicious.

Cherry tomato and cucumber salad made with the 2nd ripe cucumber and handful of cherry tomatoes picked today. This time I added salt, pepper, olive oil, and red wine vinegar to make a salad. It was one of the best tomato cucumber salads I've ever had, it could only have been made better by a little red onion. 

So glad to be eating my freshly grown fruits and veggies!