Fallen Tomatoes

I was so proud of them. They were exceeding expectations. However, this evening, I confirmed what I first suspected yesterday: my 2 heirloom tomato plants had fallen victim to late blight. I bought them at a local farm/nursery, thinking they'd be better quality than plants from Home Depot. Was their fate determined by spores on the window from neighbors? Did my local nursery buy them from some central, infected distributor? Did I plant them too close together? Or, was it simply the result of an uncommonly wet June? Regardless, I'll have to find some other source for garden-fresh BLT's and caprese salad this summer.

Tonight, after dinner, we pulled the heart-shaped heirloom and bagged it for the trash. I salvaged 3 giant green tomatoes and have them on the windowsill, with the vain hope that they will ripen, but I'm not too optimistic. We gathered another half dozen not-quite-ripe cherries and are eagerly awaiting their fate. The rest of the cherry tomato plant gets pulled tomorrow night. The mosquitoes were too thick for us tonight to finish the job and really, my heart wasn't in it.

For my inaugural vegetable garden, 3 plants are down, with 1 to go. Will the pepper plant make it?

Zucchini Roll-Ups and An Easy Dinner

When the zucchini was flourishing, we were eating zucchini every other night, usually grilled. Last week, I opted to fancify our grilled zucchini and served it with dinner

Zucchini Roll-Ups

• 1 medium zucchini, cut into long strips (about 4 strips per zucchini)
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• 1 oz goat cheese, room temperature
• 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley

Season zucchini with olive oil, salt & pepper and grill on medium heat, a few minutes per side. Remove from grill and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, mix chopped parsley into the goat cheese. Spoon 1/4 of the goat cheese mixture onto the end of each zucchini and roll up.

We enjoyed ours with a quick-fried chicken breast, served on a bed of arugula with a squeeze of lemon and oh yes, some of the early golden cherry tomatoes!