Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Taste of Summer

After spending all spring and most of the summer carefully tending the garden, it's finally time to begin the long, arduous task of raking in the harvest.

Okay, okay, so I threw a few tomato plants in the ground this spring and haven't looked back at 'em since. It's been raining the whole time, so I didn't even water them. Not once. And yeah, maybe there aren't enough to break out the canning equipment yet. But we did get to each have one on our salad tonight. I even sliced mine to prolong the joy of it.


Aren't they cute? I love grape tomatoes. My Bush Celebrity tomatoes look like they'll be the winner of the season. I have a nice healthy looking plant with loads of tomatoes. The Early Girl variety didn't do so well, only two tomatoes there. The Big Boys aren't very big yet, but I put those out late. I also put out both a red and green bell pepper and they are the same size as the day I planted them. Can't say I'm to happy about that, I really wanted peppers. The cherry tomatoes are plugging along, but look like they'll be late coming on.

My parents sweet corn should be ready sometime this week. They plant enough to feed a small army so I'm thinking I might get an ear or two. But the number one taste of summer for me is the cucumber. I picked some up at the farmers market and made some old fashioned cucumber salad. This to me screams summertime. Try it. You'll like it.

Old-Fashioned Cucumber Salad

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 large cucumbers, peeled, thinly sliced
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix water, sugar and vinegar together until dissolved. Add onions and cucumbers. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for three hours before serving.

When the onions and cucumbers are gone you can save the juice in the fridge and add more cucumbers and onions to it.

7 comments:

StitchinByTheLake said...

My mother-in-law used to make this but I didn't have the recipe. I've printed this off. Thanks so much! Beautiful tomatoes - more than I was able to grow this year. :) Blessings, marlene

Amelia said...

Glad to say our garden is doing great...will probably post pictures our bounty in a few days.

I got a new recipe for cukes from a friend of mine musing Italian dressing instead of the water/vinegar/sugar one (which I had used for years). You might want to try it too.


Enjoy this week...

Amelia

Jayne said...

Oh, that recipe for cucumber salad brought back so many memories of spending summers at my great-aunt's farmhouse in Illinois. We all gathered for supper and a big bowl of cucumber salad was always passed around the table.

Unknown said...

You sure are frugal saving your vinegar juice! hehe

I make mine about the same way except I add a few shakes of dried dill from Pampered Chef. Gives it a little extra flavor.

Jen said...

we do that cucumber recipe too but as I've never made it myself I'm pretty sure it either has Milk or MIracle Whip in it as ours is white.

Carol said...

I have been looking for this recipe for more years than I care to mention. My grandma used to make this and I just loved it. For some reason never could find the recipe. Thank you so much for posting it.

Becky said...

Your Blog is so cheery and fun. I love a farm, my grandparents lived just South of Greenup, Illinois on a small farm. Reading your blog reminds me so much of them and their farm and my youth and the treasured times I spent with them. There's nothing quite like home cooking from the farm. I'm printing off your recipes as I type here. Whatever did we do without the internet...well we picked berries, worked in the garden, hung clothes on the fence line after using the wringer washer, and making noodles, picked a fresh bouquet of flowers for the dinner table and I personally spend hours standing in the pantry! I loved it! My Grandmother made the best ranch beans with sausage....she cooked the dried beans and added cooked, drained sausage! Delicious! Nearly everything we ate at their home was from the farm! Such Memories, thanks for bringing them back to my heart.