There are over fifty tomatoes in my house. Skeptical? Here ya go. Count ‘em. They’re on the stove:
They’re on top of the microwave:
And they’re all over the kitchen counter:
Guess what we’re eating in the TL household this week. Tomato casserole. Potato lasagna with tomatoes in it. Stir fry with tomatoes as one of the ingredients. Sliced tomatoes with meals and as snacks. And I’m going to make oodles of salsa and pasta sauce.
Speaking of potatoes, I dug up a hill of potatoes today. Perfect for mashed potatoes with supper. Potato lasagna requires that I dig up two hills of potatoes. Digging up potatoes is fun — like digging for treasure and always finding it.
And good news — we harvested our first ears of corn today! And another squash, some onions, and yet another tomato, one which I’d overlooked when I went tomato-picking this morning.
Hanging from our tomato plants are scores of green tomatoes that have yet to ripen. I see copious tomato sauce and salsa, etc., in our future. Singing to the tune of “Yes! We Have No Bananas”: Yes! We have some tomatoes… we have some tomatoes today!
Gardening ROCKS. Well, you know what I mean. We’re not growing rocks (though I had to wonder about that at first, as many rocks as we had to pull and carry out of our garden when we began – the soil here is good but plenty rocky). Gardening is fun, healthy, and it’s saving us a bundle at the grocery store each week.
We’re also growing eye candy (and bird food, also known as sunflower seeds). Our first sunflower has fully bloomed:
And the rest of them are on their way:
And speaking of sunniness, I’m honored and humbled: singer-songwriter Jannie Funster, a ray of sunshine in her own right, posted a glowing review of my novel Mirror Blue on her blog. Thanks a thousand times over, Jannie!
17 Comments
Oh, those tomatoes. We’ve got some good ones from my FIL. And your spuds looks wonderful.
Yay for all those tomatoes! It sounds like you’re putting them to good use. Your garden is really paying off!
hehe, Leah! I’m loving those spuds. They sure were yummy with supper! And I’m glad you got some yummy tomatoes from your FIL.
Hi, Bunnygirl! Yes, that garden — it’s better than chocolate. Literally!
looks like a great harvest!
You DO know how to can, RIGHT??? Don’t let all that gorgeous stuff become compost!
I am envious. I wish we had the land (and I had the time, patience, and body) to garden. As it is, I tried growing sunflowers. Bunnies or something ate them when they were seedlings. Aargh!
Thanks, Crafty Green Poet!
And hi Susan! Yup, canning, freezing, it’s all on the No-Garden-Waste agenda. We don’t one bit of our garden yummies to become compost. The garden is a lot of work, especially during harvesting, but it’s well worth it. ACK, I’m sorry to hear that bunnies ate your sunflower seedlings.
Tomatoes in Scranton, PA?
Remember that from Harry Chapin, “Greatest Stories Told Live?” Please tell me you know it! And if you don’t you’ll rush out and buy it!
I don’t know why but I almost always cry when I think of Harry Chapin. A life cut so short, I guess. Like Jim Croce’s. And Jon Denver’s.
Well, well, isn’t this a cheery comment, on your 50 tomato, 11 cobs of corn, 5 onions and one yellow squash, perfectly potatoed post — and that just won’t do!
So let me write a little song for you.
Thomma Lyn’s got a heavenly garden
She growin’ beans and corn & such
Thomma Lyn’s got a heavenly garden
She’s got that sunflower touch.
Okay, just off the top of my head, um-kay
But I do have the melody too. Of course I’ve got 400 melodies.
BTW, I did not fully do your wonderful Mirror Blue justice in my review. I should’ve mentioned how it made me want to run barefoot at midnight through a week of fresh-cut August nights by the ocean. (The Atlantic, of course.) How it made my heart pound and tears come rushing up fast. How I thought about Iaasac and Aphrodite as I was driving to the grocery store and couldn’t wait to get back to them. How I wanted to sleep with Mirror Blue under my pillow, and wake to see it on my silver breakfast tray the next morning with the croissants the maid would serve warm and fresh in my castle.
Oh well, I guess Vinny will have to do.
xoox
xoxoxoxo
((((((((((((Jannie))))))))))))
Your comment made my day, you sweetheart, you. It makes me so happy that you loved and connected with Mirror Blue so deeply. That’s every writer’s dearest wish: for his/her stories to connect with readers deeply, on a heart/mind/soul level. And it’s funny how these things work, these connections, because I’ve connected with your music in the same way. Your songs run through my head every day, and often. And which song it is depends on my mood. Today, because I’m in thoughtful, somewhat pensive mode, it’s been “What’ll I Do With Me” and “Kissing 39 Goodbye” playing in my head while I hiked on the mountain. And I hear your beautiful voice in my head just as I do when I listen to your CD – then when I listen to your CD again, it’s that much sweeter to hear the real thing. If I’m making any sense.
hehe, I love the little Thomma Lyn Garden Song! I bet your melody is adorable. I hear a melody, too, when I read those lyrics — and wouldn’t it be a hoot if the melodies we heard were similar? Talk about synchronicity!
Harry Chapin — sounds like I’ll have to get a hold of “Greatest Stories Told Live.” I love Cat’s in the Cradle” and “Taxi”, and oh my goodness, Jim Croce… when I was a kiddo and a teenager, I listened to his songs over and over and over and over and over and over (and over). John Denver recorded some wonderful songs, too — I’m particularly fond of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”
I want you to know that your sweet comment has made me feel even warmer and fuzzier than Brainball, my fuzziest cat. *grin*
Shall we swap our melodies for that little verse?
I think Rocky Mountain High was my fav of his.
xoxo
Looks fabulous! At my house, it’s all cucumbers all the time, right now.
hehe, Jannie! Guess what — I now have a new melody for that verse. The first one fell out of my head, but I have another one now, reading it. Do you find yourself doing that? And oh yeah, Rocky Mountain High is wonderful.
xoxoxo xoxoxo
Hi, Mama Zen! lol, we’ve got cukes, too. A big pile of ‘em in the fridge. I’ve been snacking on them along, and mixing them with tomatoes and Caesar dressing. Yummy! Enjoy your cukes!
So when are we all invited over for dinner? It all looks so wonderful. But so does your book. I’ll have to put it on my reading list.
Hi, Pat! I’m tickled you visited my blog — welcome, and thanks for commenting! I so enjoy your links and FB activity and blog posts and all the information you provide. And thanks for your kind comment about my book. I hope you enjoy it!
Yup, everybody come on over for supper: I made potato lasagna and sliced up yet more tomatoes to eat with it. Oh, and I used eighteen of those tomatoes to make homemade salsa — yum yum!
Tomatoes, potatoes, and corn, oh my, and a smiling sunflower face.
Hugabunches, KS
Love those smiling sunflower faces! And gonna pick more tomatoes and corn tomorrow. Guess who’s gonna be making more salsa (or maybe pasta sauce this time)?
smiling sunflower ((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))), KS!
Hi there, I love Tennessee! I spent a week in Nashville visiting family (I was born iN Mississippi ) and it was just gorgeous..hot..but gorgeous. I love your Anais Nin quote…I am a writer as well and was so excited when I found her journals. Amazing.
Hi, Maggie May! Thanks for visiting and commenting, and welcome to my little writing-hiking-gardening blog. Isn’t that Anais Nin quote wonderful? Found it on a friend’s blog and had to put it on mine — it’s so inspirational.
I’m glad you enjoyed TN. I’ve never been to Mississippi — bet it’s hot there, too.
Great to meet a fellow writer! I’m off to check out your blog.