Current tomatoes

This summer, we've run an experiment with growing everything from seed.  And because of issues with our previous seed company, we decided to take a two pronged approach.

We ordered heirloom seed from a couple of different companies and we tried some 'cheap' seed from places like Dollar General and Walmart.

I'm sure I'll sit down, after the summer is done and size up what I think about the different approach.  I will say that this summer has been far less expensive from a standpoint of the garden input and while there's been serious heat, which has taken it's toll, I've been impressed with a few of these plants.

By far, the favorite fun new little tomato is the 'current' tomato. 

You can see it's size compared to a penny.  The little tomatoes are not only quite tiny, but they're absolutely packed with the most delicious flavor I've ever eaten in tomato form.  Their texture is different than other small tomatoes as well and is quite firm.  When you bite into the current tomato, they absolutely explode with flavor.
For the first week that any were ripening, we had a terrible time getting any into the house, but instead , stood and snacked on them in the garden, still warm from the sun.

They're very good in salads and in sauces and make the very best fresh out of hand snacks.
The tiny tomato comes from a delicate but rangy plant that has borne up well under the vicious sun and heat indexes of more than 100 degrees F for several weeks now.

The tiny current tomato will join our garden plan for years to come as it's proven itself for us this year.
Edited to add.  These seed came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Their website is www.rareseeds.com.

On becoming a mother

So I've been spending a lot of time awake at night, which is a bit unusual for me.

And I'll admit that a lot of that time is spent trying to refocus from the things that worry me, to regroup in the deep abiding trust that makes it easy to sleep deeply and soundly.

But last night, as I lay there and thought, I thought about the fact that today marks the day that, twenty six years ago, I became a mother.  We, as a couple, became parents.

While there are lots of moments that define a couple and a person, becoming a mother singularly meant more to me than any other of my life.

No long exclamations about the daughter who brought this to my life... simply to say that having her in my life was then and what still today makes the sun shine on each new day for me.  To hear her voice, to put my arms around her reminds me that my life is blessed beyond compare.

What I remember about that day were a couple of things...

The morning of her birth I picked green beans.  Truly, hugely pregnant, I did the squat and pick, heave my heavy belly up and squat and pick and repeat so forth on down the long rows of beans.  That morning, like today, was blistering hot.   So, the very last thing that we did together, as a pair, before her birth, was garden.

And then, I remember her eyes... at birth, even while still attached to her umbilical cord, she was perfectly silent, but her eyes were so huge and so expressive.  At the moment of birth, she looked so very deeply at her father and then at me, as if to say "I'm here to change your life"...

and so she did.

An hour...

This morning, I found an hour...

What happened was this... instead of my normal 5 am wakeup cold dog nose to my sleeping hand, Stormy slept until 6.

And when I did awake to her smiling face, doggy breath, I realized that for the first night in a while, I'd slept soundly and peacefully... awake and fresh for the morning.

So, instead of going back to bed and passing out until 7 something, when I'd need to rush to get the animals cared for before leaving for work...

... I found an hour.

An hour... for a brief, day brightening devotion...

... for a egg, fried in olive oil and a sliced tomato on a piece of toast...

...kitten snuggling, chicken feeding, garden plundering...

...bird watching, dog romping, porch sitting...

The extra hour gave me time to breathe, to choose to take a moment

to think.

I realize that I've been complaining about the heat... and the 'busy - ness',,,
and not looking near enough for the beauty in it all.

Oh, my... so good.

One flour tortilla...

One peach, diced...

...sprinkled with a little sugar...

...maybe cinnamon, if you like.

Fold the tortilla in half, chock full of peaches.

One teaspoon of butter in a little black iron skillet.

Flip it a couple of times, till it browns...

A peach sort of quesadilla, but without the cheese.

Updates and such...

No... we have not fallen off the face of the earth!

We've been adjusting to:

having TWO boys rambling around the place, again....

and a return, albeit temporarily, to work at the State Park...

...and a garden growing beautifully.

... a kitchen full of fruits and veggies...

...excessive heat...

... emergency eldercare... my mother in law broke her hip and needed a partial hip implant...

The days have been too short to get it all done.

Though there have been greater than average challenges this month,  Tommy and I have managed to escape  not once, but twice on lovely, day-long 'dates' that left us refreshed and sneaking in at midnight giggling like teenagers.  I'd forgotten the simple pleasure of spending time away from the cares of the day to day things in helping to counterbalance the 'heavier' things in life.

I promise that I'll catch you up on things...

promise!