Shay-nun's Shenanigans: nature, garden and stuff

Here's the Green Zebra tomato I posted about earlier. I guess I didn't know when it was ripe - it split open before I figured it out! I've got another one on the vine, so I'm checking it more frequently. It's a pretty tomato, but I wasn't sure what to expect as for taste.

The tomato was soft, like any ripe tomato, and it was green on the inside. It tasted really good! Certainly like a ripe tomato, but a little different from a red one. Can't put my finger on the difference, but it was very good. Alpine wouldn't eat it until I tried it first - he'll usually try anything. Luckily, he was pleasantly surprised!

This is the first bunch of lettuce I got from the garden. I'll use it for as long as possible, but I also want to let some go to seed, so I have seed for next year. This lettuce was grown from last year's seed, so I know it's possible!

Once again, we're overrun with zucchini, and the squash has started coming in, too. The two on the left are our first cucumbers... the skin was a little bitter due to the dry weather, but they were generally very tasty. I'm trying to be creative with the squash and zucchini, but help would be appreciated. I've steamed it with different seasonings, baked it in olive oil with onion and salt and pepper (which is very good, by the way), and put it in soup. I have a squash casserole recipe, and of course have been baking zucchini bread at every opportunity. =)

We had some friends here recently, and while this didn't come out of the garden, it was a a nice compliment to the baked squash and zucchini. If you've never had Beer Can Chicken, you should try it. You don't have to use beer - I've tried wine and perfer it the least, but you can also use pop. I try to stick with Mountain Dew or Sprite, but I think any will work. I do think beer is my favorite, though I'm not sure why. Just has a good flavor. You can find a rub recipe online, or I'll give you mine. Good stuff - probably the best chicken I've ever eaten.

While our buddies were here, we also picked blackberries. We picked about a gallon of them (and I need to go back!), which was enough berries for me to make 4 cobblers. I made one while they were here, along with some homemade ice cream, and I froze the other 3 batches. Put in some sugar, freeze, and they're ready to thaw and make a quick cobbler. Have I mentioned how much I love my chest freezer? I'm not sure how I ever did without it.