Vegetable shopping at home

Zinnias are one of my favorite annuals.  Every year I plant the seeds and most times critters eat the tender shoots as they come up.  Thankfully that didn't happen this year.  

I remember this view of the garden at the beginning of April, when we were amending the soil and I was planning the layout.

It hardly seems possible for all of this to have happened in just four months.  Some of these tomato plants are taller than I.  This year I really worked at making everything grow vertical. 

My basket is mostly filled with tomatoes: black krim, parks whopper, sungold, juliet, celebrity, husky cherry reds and tomatillos.  There are also a few cucumbers, plums and zucchini in the mix.  Shopping from the garden is my favorite way to shop.

These cute little heirloom cucumbers are mexican sour gherkins.  They are the size of a large jelly bean and look like tiny watermelons.  I love the slight hint of lemon flavor in these crunchy textured one bite wonders. 

The cherry sized tomatoes ripen so fast that I oven roast pans of them all summer long.  I really like this over night roasting method. 

Preheat the oven to 450.  Cut the tomatoes in half and place them cut side up in the pan.  Lightly drizzle some olive oil over them and sprinkle with salt, fresh ground pepper, and thyme.  I like to top them off with a good amount of minced garlic.  When they've been in the oven for 15 minutes, turn it off and let them set overnight.  In the morning, scoop them into containers and refrigerate.