Battle of the Veggies, Round 4

The garden is full of tomatoes right now, but most of them are still green. Grown from seed, they're a mix of Purple Cherokees and Boxcar Willies. Not sure which variety the one on the left is, but it was our first to ripen. On the right is an unidentified variety that came today in our Full Belly Farm CSA box. Our tomato was quite sweet, with a smooth, velvety texture; theirs was slightly tart, with a more granular texture.


We also received a few ears of corn in the box, so it seemed like a good time to peel back the husk on ours and see how its doing. The Full Belly offering measured longer by far, but on taste they were both quite flavorful. The kernals on the backyard version (grown from seedlings) were surprisingly large; we'll have to try and germinate a few and see how they fare.

We've been growing a small patch of arugula, and while we haven't received anything comparable from the CSA box lately, it deserves a little blog love.

And finally, this summer's sunflower crop has been a bounty. Some of them have been more than 10 feet tall!

Rest in Peace, Austin

We miss you.

Battle of the Veggies, Round 3

Cool as a...
Top row: 12 inches of tape measure
Second row: homegrown cucumber, standard variety
Third row: homegrown cucumber, tsuyataro variety
Fourth row: Full Belly Farm cucumber, Armenian variety

On length alone, the CSA box wins. On taste, it's kind of a toss up -- the difference is pretty subtle. On crunch, the homegrown varieties win, but they have the natural advantage of having just come off the vine.

The standard variety looks like a natural for pickling. Perhaps if we feel adventurous, or simply get tired of cucumbers, we'll give it a whirl.
Finally, for no good reason: Daisies!