The Modern Victory Garden

The first of the large tomatoes (Legend) was fully ripe today and ready to be harvested.   It weighed in at just a shade over a half pound.   Another very big one (Siletz) is right behind it - probably ready tomorrow.   Large clusters of the Stupice tomatoes are breaking color too.   On June 11th, I predicted that the tomato ripening process would start occurring in earnest in mid-July.    It turns out I was off by about two weeks, but generally pretty close. 

In my opinion, there are only two ways to eat the first ripe full size tomato of the season:

1. standing in the garden - eating it like an apple; or
2. BLT sandwiches

Since my family would have been quite unhappy with me if I kept this to myself, I opted for choice number 2. 

With that in mind, I made sure the harvest for the evening included all the necessary fixins' for a good BLT; the tomato (of course), some lettuce or a summer alternative (young swiss chard leaves), and sweet onion for slicing.                           

The red of the tomato, the tropical colors of the "Bright Lights" swiss chard, and the cool white of the sweet onion, all combine to paint a tapestry of good summer eating.                      

From the garden these went to the kitchen - where the tomato and onions were sliced and some bacon cooked until crisp.                          

 Some good cracked wheat sour dough bread, a little mayo, and the end result is a sandwich that was all pleasure to eat on an incredibly hot summer evening.            

Hope you are enjoying good summer eating from your garden too.