The flavor of a Ramapo tomato

So now we have a tomato that is almost fully ripe. Not that big, but red enough to be sampled. Not as tart as the other ones. A mild, sweet flavor but with

a strong tomatoey taste that you rarely find in the stores. I'm not a foodie or anything but these tomatoes definitely are flavorful.

The happy gardener

At top: I decided to take some basil seeds I harvested from a plant last year and see if they would would produce new basil. Apparently the answer is yes.
Bottom: Note the reddish tomato at the top of the Whiney tomato plant. The cayenne pepper is also finally getting some fruit. This is the golden time in gardening. Everything is working out. To think, in a few months, we'll be late for work, scraping ice off of our windshields.

We finally got that hot weather

The air conditioner is on and the tomato and pepper plants are luxuriating in the heat on the balcony. I had some milk that was past its expiration date and I added it while I was watering. Tomatoes supposedly like calcium.

It's farmer's market time again in New Jersey. Hip intellectuals discussing crops with farmers while fingering white zucchini. Here is this year's schedule.

There is an interesting history of Ramapo tomatoes in Dig it magazine. Happy weekend.