A surprise and almost the last of the tomatoes

SunSugar and bloody butcher tomatoes.

Today I was surprised to find these few strawberries and will enjoy them to the last bite. There are still a few more tomatoes in the garden to ripen, that is, if we continue to have some sunshine.

This 'n' that Friday

"She always wants to be the one who stands out in a crowd"

"Sure wish I could reach that itchy spot"

Tomato harvest better than expected

I am more than pleased with the tomato harvest this year, considering the cool slow start they had. The small red tomato 'Bloody butcher' is sweet and juicy, one I keep in a bowl on the kitchen counter as a healthy 'snack' along with the small yellow 'Sun Sugar' which is like eating candy. The larger fruit 'Siletz'  I like sliced for sandwiches. Brandywine is still not ripe, so I won't bother with this one again.

This is the last of the blueberries, and oh! my goodness, there are so many big plump blackberries this year. These grow wild on our 10 acre property and I gladly share with the flocks of starling who squabble and fight over the berries. There are two quart  jars full of measured juice from blackberries in the freezer, ready to make into jelly during the cold months of winter.
Last of all there are the zucchini. I only grow two plants, the second is only if the first fails. A family can eat only so much zucchini. *grin* What we don't eat, the semi-tame rabbits are only too happy to help out.

My experiment with heirloom tomatoes.

For years I have missed the wonderful slightly sweet acidic flavor of the tomatoes I remember from my childhood. This year, I decided to see what some of the heirloom tomatoes taste like. I had to choose tomatoes requiring a shorter growing season, as sometimes our summer in the PNW can be cooler and shorter than in other parts of the country, this year was no exception.

The golden colored Sun Sugar tomato (not an heirloom) has, and still is producing lots of the small sweet tomatoes. The Bloody Butcher, heirloom tomato plant  has also given me an abundance of lovely fruit for salads and snacking, one I will be growing again next year. Siletz is a larger tomato, one with not a whole lot of seeds and a flesh I like as a slicing tomato for sandwiches, but because of the short summer did not produce very many fruit, but perhaps I would consider planting it again, hoping for more sunny days to ripen more fruit.

This tomato is Brandywine and still has not ripened, also due to the short Summer we have had this year. I am hoping there will be at least one tomato ripen so I can taste it to see what kind of flavor it has.
Next year I will look for more heirlooms to try, as I still have not found a tomato with that allusive flavor I am looking for.

I have no complaint about the blueberry bushes and the large quantity of berries I have harvested from them. I have enough tucked away in the freezer, to see us through the winter. This is the first year I will not have to buy any.