Making Up for Lost Time

Those of you who live in the Northwest know that our summer was late to arrive and gardens were slow to take off. Some things performed better than others. My green beans and kale were great; my eggplants are still teeny-tiny. I had tons of peppers but they are smallish, which still works. I had a hard time keeping basil alive for much of the summer. The tomatoes finally really started coming on in September and have been going pretty strong ever since. I picked this batch this morning – wanted to get them in before the rain starts in earnest and they split.

The yellow tomatoes are called Golden Rave. I’ve grown them the last few years and they are a great performer! Normally they ripen fairly early since they are a smaller tomato. They are sweet and thin-skinned – great for everything from salads to roasted tomato soup. In the back are San Marzanos. They are the ones I generally preserve for use later in the winter. In the front are a couple of Brandywines. A really great tasting and beautiful tomato but they need a decent summer to really produce. I got quite a few this year but there are a lot of green ones still on the vine.

My tomato season was late but I sure am enjoying it now!