Meighan

I harvested two perfect ripe tomatoes from my ‘Stupice’ tomato plant last weekend. These are the first tomatoes that are ripe in my garden. To honour the first tomatoes of 2008, I made a reconstructed tomato salad. To make this salad I sliced each tomato into four slices, then put them back together, adding in a layer of fresh mozzarella cheese, course sea salt, olive oil and african blue basil, garnishing the top with mini globe basil, and finishing with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I probably should have made a reduction with the balsamic, would have looked better!! Sure tasted good though! Ate the salad out on the patio with all of the flowers, it was lovely. I love summer!!

I harvested two perfect ripe tomatoes from my ‘Stupice’ tomato plant yesterday. These are the first tomatoes that are ripe in my garden. To honour the first tomatoes of 2008, I made a reconstructed tomato salad. To make this salad I sliced each tomato into four slices, then put them back together, adding in a layer of fresh mozzarella cheese, course sea salt, olive oil and african blue basil, garnishing the top with mini globe basil, and finishing with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I probably should have made a reduction with the balsamic, would have looked better!! Sure tasted good! Ate the salad out on the patio with all of the flowers, it was lovely. I love summer!!

We had a HUGE windstorm yesterday, came out of no where! The temperature dropped and the wind picked up in huge gusts which shook the trees and rattled the potted plants. Many of the container plants were blown over, and my patio umbrella flew away (it was safely recovered). When I arrived home from work the ground surrounding the cherry tree was strewn with cherries. This was a bonus, because about 95% of the cherries in the tree are too high up for me to reach. I collected the non-damaged ones and also harvested a handful of raspberries to make these “cherries and berries” still life photos.

I think by now everyone is aware of the issues around Honey Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder. In many parts of the world Honey Bees have declined by over half their population in just the last year alone. What you may not be aware of though is that other pollinators are under threat as well – everything from pesticide use to monoculture and habitat destruction all effect the little animals that pollinate our food crops, flowers and native plants. You can help by avoiding the use of pesticides, planting flowers to attract pollinators and creating habitat for these insects to nest.

If you live in Canada and you are interested in collecting data about pollinators, you can sign up with Pollination Canada, download their Observer’s Manual and then submit your data online.

By observing pollinators in gardens, local parks, along country roads, basically anywhere flowers are growing, and then sending in these observations, Pollination Canada participants help scientists to better understand the crucial relationships between pollinators, ecosystems, plant diversity, and human activity. This information is needed now, so that steps can be taken to preserve pollinator populations.

My sugar snap peas are starting to produce! I get a good couple handfuls every day. They are delicioussss! Last night I added them to a Pasta Pimavera that I made, they were great in that, along with some farmer market local baby summer squash and local hot house peppers.

My Corsican Mint (Mentha requienii) is flowering! Tiny little purple flowers. I was checking on it the other day, and when I first glanced at it I wondered what had fallen down all over the lush green leaves… then I looked closer and saw they were tiny little flowers! So pretty!

Corsican Mint is interesting because it’s the mint that is used to make the liqueur Crème de menthe. It is very fragrant, just touching it lightly will leave your hand smelling strongly of mint. It makes great mint sauce.

I have nicknamed this plant “Mini Mint”.