Daddy's Home

Added on by Shawn Poynter.

Summer isn't summer without tomato sandwiches. And this has not been much of a summer. Blight, unbearable humidity, and planting plants in the least-light-getting spot in the garden (oops) all contributed to a year that made liars out of otherwise honest tomatoes. Big Boys were tiny, Golianths were Davids, Cherries were grapes. Even Better Boys did worse. It's fine. Live and learn. Learn to plant more wisely, to weed more often, to use anti-blight chemicals despite the warnings from our organic-leaning buddies (I won't tell if you don't).

But here's the thing: I think the plants we had last year spoiled me. They were over my head and dripping with fruit. It was more than we could eat and way more than I deserve. The few fruits we picked this year, the ones that ripened without getting blighted or eaten by an animal I'd kill if on site, were such a treat. I had almost forgotten what a home-grown tomato sandwich tasted like. Partly because of the lack of suitable tomatoes and partly because we ran out of Duke's early in the season and kept forgetting to get more. And without Duke's what's the point?

Today everything changed. I brought home a jar from the store, picked out a couple ripe-yet-puny-looking tomatoes and went to work. Score, score, score!!!

[caption id="attachment_413" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The King returns"][/caption]

Even though this wasn't an Official Tomato Sandwich (we didn't have the requisite white bread, having to use wheat instead), this knockoff was good enough to make me forget about my brown thumb for a few minutes. Worth it.

It's Finally Time to Garden Again

Added on by Shawn Poynter.

Enough with the cold. It's time to make a garden. My sweetheart and I are moving the garden this year because we built a shed over the ashes of the old one. Sort of like putting a house on an old burial ground. We decided to plant everything except the tomatoes right against the house. We cut down two huge bushes and shoveled out a ton of those little decorative grass clumps you see everywhere and, with a machine on loan from a friend, tilled up the yard on both sides of the back door. This weekend we'll plant the early stuff. Next month, tomatoes.

Here are some pictures of the future garden with some random backyard stuff thrown in for good measure.

Backyard/Gardening - Images by Shawn Poynter

Traveling

Added on by Shawn Poynter.

I always forget about my phone's camera. It's a great way to fight the boredom of the airport layover or remember where you've eaten. Here are a few from my trip to Louisiana.