The garden is finally starting to produce something besides cucumbers – and if we can get a bit more sun and a bit less rain, we’re going to be in for one hellava harvest, this year.

The Purple Cherokee tomatoes and the Orange tomatoes have been the first to ripen, but the Black Krim, Green Zebra, Mr Stripey, Principe Borghese – and all the San Marzanos – are not far behind. In all, there are 17 tomato plants out there. In a few weeks we’re going to be canning a lot of sauce.

I can’t wait. In the past, we’ve just picked tomatoes and blended them all to make sauce. This year, I’d love to be able to can individual varieties. We’ll see what the harvest brings.

In the meantime, the first ones are really good eating.

We did a simple salad – a take on a Caprese Salad – with grilled chicken, avocado, tomatoes, and mozzarella, on a bed of greens, dressed with homemade pesto. Classic flavors simply done.

One of life’s great pleasures is the taste of a tomato straight off the vine.

We’re gonna have a couple of months of pleasures…