the Fruits of Summer!

July is fully upon us, and that means that more than anything these days, we finally get to harvest the many fruits of our labor! Today we are going to take you on a little tour of just a few of the delicious veggies that are finding their way into our bellies and into our CSA member's weekly boxes.First up, I can't help but begin with the one veggie we have been wishing, hoping, watering, fertilizing, and bug-picking the most all summer in hopes that all our TLC would pay off --- and behold! Houston, we (finally) have eggplant.(Did I mention that we planted about 3x more eggplant than we did last season? That's a lot of ratatouille!)Next up, the award for the sweetest veggie to harvest thus far -- sungold and sweet million tomatoes! These little guys make up for their small size with BIG sweet, summery taste:The next shout-out goes to our most prolific summer vegetables -- squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Every day we find our selves harvesting more and more of these cucurbits -- though we certainly aren't complaining!

Last but not least, some of our gorgeous and colorful root veggies -- carrots and beets! These beauties have been hibernating underground since early spring, and we can hardly help but help ourselves to a carrot here and there as we weed, water, and work away each morning in the garden.

This week, when we aren't harvesting these lovely summer veggies, we are getting the garden in party-ready shape for Gazpacho in the Garden this Saturday! If you still haven't RSVP'ed, be sure to email me at mrr5q@virginia.edu.