the baby tomatoes were a reminder of what could have been this summer…a promise…a reason to keep hope alive and look forward to next summer when it may rain beautiful, ripe, heirloom tomatoes again. the heirloom grape and cherry tomatoes (pictured) from the market, as well as the ones from my parents garden did not disappoint. i was fully present when savouring every last one.
what i will miss about summer are the juicy flavours (blueberries and peaches especially) and the time we make to sit outside with friends and eat picnic-style. we don’t linger enough, often enough, over meals i think, at least i don’t.
what i will not miss, is finding the few squashes and tomatoes that actually came to bear in my garden, found sacrificed on my front doorstep with only one bite out of them (yes, the racoons and squirrels brought the evidence around front just to make sure i didn’t miss their taunting). remember how much promise i had for the garden in the beginning? i have nothing to show you now. it would be too sad to document it at this point. those rodents are testing my no-kill food policy…
but what i am really looking forward to is the rush of harvest vegetables straight ahead, deeper, earthier flavours and hot, steamy meals even better suited to the rich red wines i love. fall is tied with spring for my favourite seasons, where the real bursts of produce happen in our climate. summer, you were fun, but now it’s back to serious eating. bring on even more flavour.
