Matoes

That's right. Yesterday Schuyler and I planted tomatoes in hopes of some delicious fresh salsa and caprese salad in just a short 75 days. (The exact amount of days, according to Sarah's myspace, until her wedding. Can fresh tomatoes be a wedding present?)

We also planted a lone banana pepper.

It made me really homesick. My mom is sort-of a gardening legend. Every year she plants 40 potato plants, 65 tomato plants, cucumber, okra, squash, zucchini, jalapenos, carrots, radishes, spinach, pumpkin, sweet corn, onions, garlic, peas, and green beans. Growing up Sadie and I would grunt through the garden squashing "democrats" (potato bugs), pulling weeds, and watering plants. Our housecat would come outside with us and lounge under the bushy tomato leaves or under the bean rows watching us as we worked.

It always payed off. July and August we never need to go to the grocery store... dinner usually consisted of some sort of stir-fried vegetables with clams, or sliced tomatoes and sweet corn. We would sit outside on the picnic table around a citranella candle while we ate fresh pickles and grilled zucchini. As we got older, we were afforded the luxury of drinking a beer with dinner.

And to this day, nothing sounds better than a garden stirfry with a cold Miller Lite (the only beer mom buys).

So hopefully our tomato plants will go forth and prosper... and I can recreate a little piece of Nebraska with Schuyler on our front porch. Heck, I'll even buy the Miller Lite.