First freeze = sad tomatoes

The weather forecast for tonight predicts the first frost of the season. Frost combined with several blustery days and sustained cool temperatures meant we had to face the facts. Tomato season is over. It is time for the tomatoes to give up their real estate.

Oliver pulled up our two plants today and separated the fruit into grocery bags for me to see. We had 5lbs 3oz of growing heirloom tomatoes and ANOTHER 2.5 lbs of grape tomatoes. Oh what might have been!

This summer we learned a lot about fertilizing tomato plants. I'm really looking forward to applying this year's lessons to next years crop. Onward tasty kale!

Perfect tomatoes are perfect

Quick post from a quick dinner. Tomato sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Just a dab of mayo. Perfect tomatoes. Red and flavorful all the way through. Never seen the inside of a refrigerator. Picked them up on Sunday at the Grant Park farmers market from my favorite vendor, Mountain Earth Farms. This is what tomatoes were meant to be.

Amazing Tomatoes!

Three days of rain coaxed our heirloom tomato blossoms into half a dozen new tomatoes! Such a simple little thing but I'm so happy about the possibility of fresh tomato sandwiches for another month. The actual vine is a beast! Not our prettiest tomato vine ever but when it comes to producing new branches and flowers it is prolific.

Topher was in the garden with me as I took these photos. Here you can see him sitting in one of our empty raised beds (and looking for the neighbor's cat). It's a mess now but all summer it was full of cucumber vines. We plan to replenish the soil before our fall/winter planting. Then we'll probably fill it with lettuce, kale and maybe broccoli.

Monday night BLT

The much anticipated BLT! Actually, Oliver made one a BLT and the other a "PPLT" (pulled pork, lettuce and tomato). Made from some of the pulled pork we'd frozen and saved from our wedding reception's pig roast in May.

In the background you can see a pint of Oliver's Rye Saison homebrew (in a Redbrick Brewery glass) and, of course, Mr. Topher begging at the screen door.

Oh that Topher! (Seen here on Sunday running off to enjoy a grape tomato from our garden. He prefers to eat them on the carpet in the living room).