local life

Here is Mike in a local VFW on burger night. You can see exactly how you order in this spot :)
They grill burgers outside on a deck and charge $4. for a burger and chips with all the fixins. Only thing better is the 3 for $5 beers!

Crystal in late August.

She looks a big ragged but fruit production is in full swing. We have eaten one and it was very good. Skin seemed thinner than some of Beulah's. The plant doesn't look all that good but I think all the energy is going to the fruit.

We are getting some rain and it is not a great weekend. Neither Mike nor I are feeling very well, cold, flu, bacterial junk-who knows but staying home is ok. We did go to see Inglorious Basterds and it was fun. Who doesn't love Brad Pitt and Quentin. Even popcorn here costs $6.85 for a Med bag!

It seem like fall happened all of a sudden. We are not ready for it. Time goes to fast. Maybe we will get a few days of sun this week. I think the tomatoes need it.

And how do I leave them in a few weeks? Mike asks if I have someone to give them to. Not really. Will they just rot on the vine? I have babied them all summer and all the other plants and snow will just come and cover all of it. Seems odd to me after living in CA where geraniums never die....

The Great Lake

This is Lake Michigan, taken from Glen Haven. What you see are the North and South Manitou Islands.
The lake is calm this day but when you read about this part of the lake it is one of the most dangerous sections in winter months. So many ships carrying goods around the lakes were grounded or sunk near here. Read the history of the South Manitou island lighthouse or the Pointe Betsie lighhouse. In some winters, 25% of ships were lost near here.

'nough said

I don't think this town was named after Mike's family but we claim the right to post the sign on this blog.

How cool is this!

I found this fiesta ware at the Buckley old engine show! It is a great way to show off the color and size of the fruit. The one on the right is from Crystal.

So far every one has been yummy, no worms and perfectly ripe.

republican portugese water dog--Bubbles

This is Bubbles and Jeanne. They came to visit and you can see Beulah in the photo. Luckily, Bubbles does not like to eat tomatoes.

Flint Northern Class Reunion

My husband had his class reunion and this was a shot of our friend Dave and another friend Suzanne ( see last post). A good time was had by all. So much for fun in Flint.
Now back to the sunny lake.

We had a nice dinner today of a caesar salad, fresh yellow beans and whole wheat pasta with mushrooms, garlic, white wine, basil and olive oil sauce with Beulah's tomatoes. A little red wine and life is good at the lake again. I picked on from Crystal but it needs a bit of time to mature.

Pick count 8! 5 eaten.

Flint buddies.

These are our Flint friends, the Dahls and the Smiths Up North with us. Both of the guys were in our first wedding ( yes we were married to each other, divorced and then remarried 22 years later). The attractive younger girl is Kelly Smith, daughter of Dave and Joanne.
We had a little dinner on Lake Ann with food and wine as you can see.
None of us lives in Flint anymore but we all have houses near each other Up North. How fun it is to have dear, old friends to visit with in the summer.

Tart

This is a tart cherry tree and the photo was taken by my iPhone!
Not quite ready to pick but full of fruit. Ah, the bounty of nature.
Picked another tomato and the damaged branch managed to produce 3 reasonable tomatoes. We ate two more today, count is up to 6. Crystal has one that is ripening and I am anxious to see how different they are. One thing I noticed is that the tomatoes seem to have a slightly thicker skin than the market or heirloom ones. I might go to the extension service to find out.
Added some food today and expecting rain tomorrow.

Glen Arbor

Glen Arbor MI with a view of the North Manitou island.
Big blue water, rocky shores, blue sky.
Glen Arbor is a small lake town near the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Glen Haven is an old lighthouse town we visited too.
Food! Art's Tavern for parmesan encrusted whitefish. Eat local!

Diane and Ken's boat

Here we are visiting Ken and Diane's sailboat at Charlevoix. They are sailing around the top of MI this summer. Considering my issues with sailing we decided to stay in the harbor and have a nice lunch at a local spot.

Pick count at 5

It is finally hot here and sunny. I picked 5 from Beulah and Mike and I enjoyed 2 of those today. No great new recipe just the caprese, I say "just" but it is a wonderfully simple way to enjoy tomatoes.
One growing note: the branch I protected by multiple slings, is withering and dying. It also had a black tape repair on the damaged branch. The 4 small tomatoes actually survived and I have been picking them. Maybe the fruit is sucking all the nutrients from the branch. Odd.
Here are some things I am learning. The skins seem thicker and I don't know why. We have good color, good texture inside, good taste. Need to google it.
Found an interesting article in the TC paper. Fleda Brown "on Poetry" found a poem called Vespers by Louise Gluck. It is about growing tomatoes! Here is a bit of it "I think I should not be encouraged to grow tomatoes. Or if I am, you should withhold the heavy rains, the cold nights that come so often here, while other regions get twelve weeks of summer." Up North we have a pretty short season for these red orbs too.
Next weekend the Frankfort farmers market is featuring heirlooms. I would love to be there, but that is the big Flint Northern reunion.

Lake at Sunset

It can't get prettier than this. I say this about everything here but it is true. What a paradise in the summer. This way taken off the dock at sunset. (thank you Mike)

We went to the MSU local alumni gathering and picnic on the lake tonight. I did not have enough of Beulah's beauties to bring but did make the melon salad and it was very good. Lots of fun meeting new people. Once you start chatting it seems less than six degrees between us all. Flint connections, Owosso family connections etc.
Current pick count is 3! Crystal has lots of offspring, all green.

First Cutting

For you skeptics, here is a shot of the inside just proving it was a real tomato and had no worms, no bugs, just luscious tomato.

Summer ( as we know it ) has actually come back to the Lake. It is calm, 80's and sunny. Mike took the Scot out alone and did great. I followed on the Sea Doo and had a nice ride almost around the lake on my own. Both are running now. If we could only get the Vette back and running we would be 100%.

"It is always something" Rosanne Rosanadana

Ta Da!

This is the finished product. It tasted as good as it looked too. This is basil from my garden.
We had a lovely dinner on the beach and it included this salad, grilled chicken, fresh Michigan corn on the cob and a Shiraz!
Life does not get better than this...

First fruit of the season

Here they are! First two fruits of the season. I think tomorrow will be the day we actually taste them. I am planning a nice caprese salad with my own basil.
I thought I would take an artistic photo. They look small but in fact are smaller than the size of a tennis ball. I think that is normal for Early Girls. I might even frame this.

Tony update

You may have wondered about my neighbor Tony Tomato. He is well and as you can see as several nice bunches of fruit ready to ripen. It seems he might be a cherry tomato kind of guy.
He lives in a nice old wheelbarrow painted a bright blue.

Ripe!

Here they are, the first ripe tomatoes of the season!! I think tomorrow is the day to pick. I don't want to do it too soon, but I just can't wait. Full photos of inside and out will be forthcoming.
We had a rainy night and not much sun today so ripening is slow I think. We are expecting a few days of more normal and HOT weather which should really redden everything.
I am going to google some sights to see exactly when to pick...you can just use some of the links on this site too.

Weekend Gardener says pick when fruit is solid colored and firm. Do NOT put on windowsill to ripen, which of course is what I have been doing with the market tomatoes I have been getting for the last 3 weeks or so. I did know that you do not put them in the frig. Bad form as Mike would say. It degrades the flavor. So store in a dark place away from direct light.

Visitors to Beulah

This is Jackie visiting from Williamston. We did some white knuckle sailing with Mike, shopped, ate and of course had some wine on the beach.

PIE!

ok, this is not tomato related but cherry pie and ice cream are an important part of life Up North. This was from the famous Cherry Hut. MMMgood.
And served on the beach...

Yellow Beans

This is one of the best summer veggies and one of my all time favorites. My grandfather grew these and they were a favorite of my mother's. I wait every summer for them to ripen. We get them in CA in late June and then I get to enjoy them again in August in MI. Some people think it odd that I am obsessed with yellow beans. Oh well, it is part emotion and part taste. That is the best food experience you can have.

My recipe: steam them for 10 min. Add a ton of real butter and salt and EAT.

33 Buick

One fun thing to do here is go to car shows. Lots of old and fancy cars are in MI as this is the home of GM, Ford, Chrysler... This was at Culver's, a great burger spot. Real Bonnie and Clyde style. Check out the hood ornament. I think no one loves their cars like we do in MI, not even those wacky CA folks.
No Vette's this week. Mine is still in the shop and it seems it needs less drastic work than we thought, whew!

RED the tomato is RED!

Here it is, the first RED tomato of the season! We have had a lot of sun and some rain and sure enough, ripening is happening.
We have been busy. We are taking advantage of all the fun summer events UpNorth. We went to a Shakespeare play (Henry V) at Elberta, dinner at Art's Tavern in Glen Arbor (local whitefish), saw the Glen Haven Coast Guard station, took a bunch of photos and have Jackie as a guest.
Jackie, Mike and I went sailing in what I thought was a good day. Turns out it was my version of the Perfect Storm and I just wanted out of the boat. I might be a better farmer than sailor...

New Baby

This is my attempt to show the latest addition to Crystal. We are now at 14 for Beulah and 10 for Crystal. I water twice a day because the pots are sort of small and they are on the concrete which I think dries them out faster. I admit to some insecticide powder ( maybe not so organic) and have been feeding them an organic mix.

Did I mention I hated tomatoes as a kid.? Liked ketchup a lot, hated real tomatoes. Not sure when I turned the corner but it might have been in my 30's as I realized that they tasted good on burgers. Then I started to discover fresh tomato bruschetta, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and basil from my garden. In CA we get fabulous heirlooms and I just got addicted. We are always sorry to see the season end. We do not have a long enough growing season outdoors in MI to grow heirlooms ( or so the farmer told me at the Elberta market. I hope mine actually ripen before I leave in Sept....