Holy Tomatoes! {garden update}

I stressed almost the entire 8 days we were gone about what our garden would look like when we got home. I knew my neighbor was watering for me, yet night after night I had dreams of coming home to dead plants. I was so pleased to come home, instead, to a beautifully kept garden (that had grown significantly in 8 days) and lots of fresh produce to pick.

Precisely,

18 Roma Tomatoes
8 Mr. Stripey Tomatoes
2 Better Boy Tomatoes
4 Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
64 Yellow Pear Tomatoes
60 Grape Tomatoes
2 Zucchini - baseball bat sized!
3 Bell Peppers - 2 red, 1 yellow
5 Jalapeno

Did I mention lots? Especially tomatoes. I wish I could share them with all of you! So many tomatoes! I'm dreaming of a tomato tart with a herbed crust. If you have a recipe, send it my way!

The beefsteak plant has lots of tomatoes on it, but they seem to take a long time. And for good reason, they're pretty big and sooooo tasty! We had our first two this week. I hope we get lots more!

We got off to a pretty good start early on with our tomatoes, thanks to our exceptionally warm spring. I was able to plant them pretty early. But the season is really picking up now. I can't go many days without picking handfuls and handfuls. I usually end up going back in the house for a bowl to put them in as I pick.

And throughout last week there were even more:

6 Roma
1 Better Boy
2 Beefsteak (delicious!)
28 Yellow Pear
40 Grape
1 Green Bell Pepper
7 Jalapeno
1 Honeydew Melon

Today I cut into our first honeydew melon. It was pretty good, but probably should have ripened one more day. I was getting a little impatient and Madeline kept asking for the "ball."

No worries on that though, because there's already another coming along nicely and lots of flowers and a few teeny tiny melons forming. My neighbor is growing cantaloupe. I hope he shares, because I think I prefer that to honeydew. I'm thinking next year we might try watermelon.

I don't know why, but some of the jalapenos have started turning red and they seem smaller than jalapenos sold in stores, but they were labeled jalapenos when I bought them - unless someone switched the tag on me.

And the season count (so far!):

• Grape Tomatoes - 215
  
• Yellow Pear Tomatoes - 145
• Mr. Stripey Tomatoes - 11
• Better Boy Tomatoes - 5
• Beefsteak Tomatoes - 2
  
• Zucchini - 11
  
• Bell Peppers (red, yellow, and green) - 15
• Jalapeno - 12
• Honeydew Melon - 1
  
• Strawberries - 12
• Green Onions - 8 bunches
• Sugar Snap Peas - 110+ (I lost track) The peas are finished for the season.
  
• Bibb Lettuce - 8 or 10 heads (the lettuce is done for the season)
• Plus virtually unlimited access to green onions, fresh basil, cilantro, dill, tarragon, and parsley

It's a good thing I had planned to write an article on homemade salsa for my 4 week series Cooking from Your Garden over at Craftzine. Week 1 and week 2 have already been published. Week 3 is this Wednesday (salsa). Next week I'll be harvesting my rhubarb!