Many updates have been posted here about the Victory Garden’s progress and we’ve been harvesting all kinds of beans, peas, cukes & cherry tomatoes. Pepper Town USA is also going gang-busters and has been providing a plenitude of deliciousness. Last night, however, was a milestone that I relish every year - the consumption of the first vine-ripe heirloom tomato. Let me say - W O W.

Still Life With Yellow Heirloom & Green Habenero. You don’t get much of a feel for the scale of this monster, but I’d put it at well over 1.5lb, maybe 2.

First cuts - and the inside looks perfect. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with the larger heirloom varietals. They can be rather persnickety; appearing ripe only to yield an unripe or, worse, rotten center. It also doesn’t necessarily help that they have such medical-wonder proportions, one lobe can be ideal and another not quite there yet. But this puppy was showing red tasty scrumptiousness across the board.

Fully butchered and being carefully watched over by a tasty glass of rose.

We figured best to enjoy this rite of season as a caprese salad w/ fresh basil from the garden and some lovely Burrata. i was introduced to Buratta not days before by our local cheese monger at the Green Grape’s new “Provisions” store. This cheese lady really knows her stuff and I’m not ashamed to admit she has a flawless track record of introducing and upselling me into new cheeses (4/4 for the record). When she told me about Burrata, that it was a mozzarella with additional cream inside, there was nothing to be done but scarf a sample. The deliciousness met my tongue, synapses fired, a waking dream of the tomato at home bubbled up and *POW*, just like that, sweet sweet commerce was made. I greedily scurried a ball of the imported stuff home to be mated to this awesome ‘mater.

Love the Buratta and love the Green Grape’s provisions; I’ll gladly sing both their praises for making my life better.

The result. Nothing but ultra fresh and perfectly ripe, garden-good, tomato and basil, delicious cheese, some olive oil, salt and pepper. It was 3 times as delicious as it looks; damn I love summer - victory garden indeed!