Blooms in the Vegetable Garden

It won't be very long now until our first tomatoes and beans are filling up their respective plants taunting us with the tantalizing promise of tastes to come. The tomato plants are filled with blooms and in some cases are beginning to form fruit. One of the most prolific tomatoes we have are the Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. My eldest daughter will be celebrating the day when that first red ripe cherry tomato shines on the vine. I seriously doubt that cherry tomato will make it indoors safely. There's just no way it even makes it out of the garden! (See more about our resident tomatoholic) I'm really looking forward to the Cherokee purple and Brandywine tomatoes. They are both heirlooms with great tasting reputations. I'm planning to save the seeds for next year and hopefully reduce my seed budget for next year.





The bush beans are blooming too. These are the Nash variety that I planted last year. I've been planting them sequentially to help sustain the crop for longer period. Bush beans tend to produce a whole bunch of beans at once compared to pole beans that will produce for a longer period. Frequent picking will help the plants continue to produce but eventually they will stop producing consistently. Our favorite way to prepare these beans is to add a little olive oil, salt and pepper to the beans in a pot then cook them to the desired crispness. We like them with a little bit of a crunch.

The squash is blooming profusely which is great since we love squash. Four squashes are currently occupying our counter top just waiting to be eaten. The zucchini is producing as well. Pretty soon it will time for some fresh grilled vegetables! Is there anything better tasting than homegrown vegetables?