One of my favorite things in the world is biting into a fresh tomato, picked on a sunny day, still warm from the garden. It brings me immediately home to our Connecticut kitchen on a hot summer evening. I can still picture my dad cutting baseball bat sized zucchinis into slices, breading them, then frying them in a big electric skillet. The delicious treats would be gobbled up before he could get the next batch into the pan.
As the summer progressed, my father used to have bowls of fresh vegetables covering his countertop, too many to keep up with. We worked and laughed side by side making jars and jars of bread and butter pickles. I have to be honest, the attempt at dill pickles was not nearly as successful, but we still had fun making them. He and my mom canned “Garden Special” with the tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers. All winter long we had those gleaming red jars on the basement shelves, just waiting for us to make spaghetti sauce full of the taste of summer.
I have never had the gardening success that my dad had, but I try every year. I have some snap peas and cucumbers growing in the back yard, and I’m hoping for a good crop of tomatoes and green beans from my plot at the Mattera Conservation Community Garden.
Spend a little time this summer reveling in the sweet taste of a fresh tomato, shucking butter and sugar corn, or snapping fresh green beans.
Do you have a garden? A great way to share your abundance is to bring it to the Reading Food Pantry. You can drop off your produce (and other donations) at 6 Salem Street on Wednesday afternoons between 4:30 and 6:00, Thursday mornings 10:00 to 12:00, or Monday evenings 5:00 to 5:30.
Additionally, their July needs list is:
- Laundry detergent
- Paper towels
- Solid white tuna in water
- Mayonnaise
- Kids’ snacks
Watch for an exclusive interview with Simone Payment from the Reading Food Pantry in August.
Stay cool! Jeannie
