chromedome

Tomato flavor can be a bit of a "black box," because there are a lot of variables. One is that even farm-fresh tomatoes aren't likely to be completely ripened on the vine (when it's dead-ripe, eating it immediately after picking is about the only option). Also tomatoes grown in different soil will vary somewhat in flavor, and even one plant in the same bed may yield tastier fruit than the one next to it. Then there's the question of which specific cultivar you've grown (there are a lot of beefsteak-type tomatoes, some more flavorful than others). In short, there are some imponderables involved. Black Krim is an heirloom variety originating in the Crimea. It's a big beefsteak-style slicing tomato with a dark, dramatic color and a rich flavor (I like it a lot).

Came home on Monday after spending several days in NS visiting my mom and other family, as well as my longtime best friend's mom ("Mom #2"). The garden, of course, had run wild in my absence. My yellow bush beans are spent but the green beans and green filet beans are still going; and in fact the filet beans are just now hitting their stride. Harvested 3 lbs more when I got home, which by my count brings me up to 42 lbs blanched and frozen. Also harvested some broccoli and broccolini, a couple of pounds of tomatoes (the deluge is just beginning), another couple of cups of shell peas, several zucchini (totaling 3 lbs or thereabouts), my three surviving cabbages (which will become this year's kraut), and a basket of chard and other greens (radish tops, beet tops and lacinato kale). I'm probably forgetting something, but it's late and I'm tired. Will post a few pics tomorrow. ETA: ...and here are the pics. Tomatoes in the bowl are from my first night back, those out of the bowl were from the second. Most of my tomatoes so far are the cocktail and cherry varieties, but I've also gotten my first couple of Romas and Black Krims. The larger Krim checked in at 14 ounces. Tomorrow I'll harvest salad greens again, and by then the beans and peas will need picking again as well. I believe I mentioned upthread that the broccoli I planted this year pushes out lots of side shoots if you harvest the main head early, resulting in more broccoli overall. Here's what it looks like in practice: My dill is about 7 feet tall right now! Gotta buy some pickling cukes, because my own plants aren't going to give me enough to be going on with (given the opportunity, the two younger grandkids will hoover an entire jar at one sitting).

An interesting piece (offered with no endorsement express or implied, but the writer is one I have a degree of trust in). https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/food-and-farms/chemical-fertilizer-is-a-climate-disaster-can-high-tech-biology-fix-it

Yup. With no offense to Scott, or anyone else who likes 'em, a list that begins with "spare your taste buds" but then includes natto and liver amused me greatly. To be clear, I'm in the pro-liver camp but have never had natto. I'm sure it packs a ton of umami, but "lumpy snot" is not a texture that in any way appeals to me.

The final level of (over-)doneness betrays this image's origin on a Star Wars fan page.

I'll often throw big handfuls of chard or lacinato kale (or turnip greens, or whatever mixture I've got) into a pan with a sauteed onion, and a generous quantity of garlic. It's a really simple side dish, but you can tweak it and tart it up with things like a squeeze of anchovy paste and/or lemon, or toasted breadcrumbs, or the chopped and toasted nut of your choice. GF likes hers with a substantial glop of heavy cream and some cheese grated over top, but that's just how she rolls.

A friend gifted us with a large quantity of those from his own trees. We canned some whole, and cooked down most of the remainder to make jelly. I ran out of time before leaving for NS (I'm down visiting my mom) so we just poured the juice into Mason jars, refrigerated the ones that didn't self-seal, and the rest can wait until I get home. I suppose this could/should have gone under "unexpected food gifts"...

I've tasted it, it's definitely still got some zing and some apple-y goodness.

We're doing much the same right now (20 lbs of crabapples from a friend) and granddaughter has requested that we turn the pulp into fruit leather for her lunchbox.

They're voracious little bastards, aren't they? They got into my lacinato kale while I was away in Nova Scotia a couple of months ago, so I had to squish a bunch of them and then wash their eggs off of the plants. I've taken a few measures to deter them. One is giving my grandkids carte blanche to "collect" any white butterfly they see in my garden, and start a terrarium for it. I've had to clean up several sad little forgotten Mason jars full of twigs and leaves and a dead moth, but that's a small price to pay. The two usual companion-planting suggestions for the cabbage moth are alliums and marigolds, and I've used them both. I didn't set up in proper scientific fashion, with an unprotected control plot of the same cultivars, but anecdotally I can tell you that I've had fewer issues with the cabbage worms in those beds. This year, for example, I had broccoli interplanted with marigolds in the bed right next to the one containing the kale, and the broccoli was unscathed. Ultimately I hope to have mesh covers over my brassicas, but that didn't happen this year for various reasons. Maybe next year.

The ever-expanding energy drinks recall now includes several Monster brand products. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/various-brands-caffeinated-energy-drinks-may-be-unsafe-due-caffeine-content-and?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

LOL It's all about the marketing...

That'd be a heck of a road trip...

There are some cultivars, like the aptly named Permagreen and Staysgreen, that retain their color when they ripen. That's less common, though. I expect they're primarily of interest to commercial growers who need to supply consistently green peppers in quantity over a full growing season.

Another new product: https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/08/i-try-synthetic-salmon-and-enter-the-uncanny-valley-of-taste/

It's pretty and low-effort, so that might actually happen. If so, I'll be sure to post about it.

This is the first year I've had a quantity of nasturtiums, so that decision isn't quite upon me. I may do, though I don't go through capers very quickly. I'm the only one in the house who eats them, and a jar lasts me a while.

I planted those in my garden this year, but sadly none of them survived the erratic spring weather. I'll probably try again next year.

Yet another energy drink recall, this one the "Mindblow" brand sold in Ontario, Quebec and perhaps elsewhere. Apparently it contains "unpermitted" ingredients, including a herbal extract that's 98% levodopa. WTAF? That's the main medication for Parkinsonism, and decidedly not something you should be randomly ingesting. Maybe that's where the brand name comes from... https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/mindblow-brand-energy-drinks-recalled-due-non-permitted-ingredients-may-pose-serious?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

The "beans 'n' greens" treadmill continues apace. The exciting departure is that yesterday saw the first "real" - if small - harvest of shelling peas, by which I mean "more than just a handful to snack on as I work." I actually took a small mixing bowl out there and filled it with them, and in the end it worked out to exactly 1 cup of shelled peas (net of snacking, because our grandson was right there watching like a hawk). They'll be hitting full stride in another week or so, as will my fillet beans. The first half of the bed (planted earlier) is now yielding heavily, while the second half (planted later) is just on the verge of starting to yield. I know there's a separate thread for flower gardens, but I thought I should mention at some point that my "jungle o' beans" has a "jungle o' nasturtiums" counterpart along one edge of the garden: I like them in salads, but realistically their main use is prettying up the living room for my GF.

...and they give you a nice, thin coating if you have to dip things. So what they lack in flavor, they make up in practicality (in some applications).

On a similar note, a sign outside one of my local pizza joints said "I must be a hipster... I ate my pizza before it was cool!"