My favorite season

The summer heat in Florida is finally abating.  Warm days and cooler nights are here and now begins the time of fall planting. 

My summer garden was full of long beans, okra and peppers.  There isn't anything wrong with any of those crops, in fact they were quite delicious, but I longed for fresh lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. 

I've spent the last couple weeks planting for fall.  My garden is now full of lettuce, radish, spinach, peas, beans, tomatoes and the list goes on.  I've counted 27 varieties of produce growing in my home garden and I am not finished planting.  I have 420 square feet at home and another 44 square feet at school.  I am very blessed indeed.

Fall is one of my favorite times for planting.  I can have some of my favorite warm weather crops along side of cool weather favorites.  Fall means variety to me.  I love seeing radish seedling peeking out from below my peppers and the cucumber vines shading my turnips.

Interplanting and succession planting are important in my garden.  I have a family of 7 and I don't have alot of space to plant.  Every inch of garden space is precious and I take advantage of crop maturity dates to ensure a continuous harvest for my family.  Planting continues all season long and it's alot more work than conventional farming practices but it is worth every moment I spend with my hands in the dirt.

The garden beds look more like exotic flower gardens than just functional food space.

So, in honor of finally having fresh tomatoes again I am sharing one of my favorite recipes:

Grilled Green Tomato Caprese
 

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (*white or regular)

1/2 cup olive oil

3-4  garlic cloves, minced (or to taste)

1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

4 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 2 lb.)

1 (16-oz.) package sliced fresh mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil (I love the flavor of fresh Thai basil in this)

Preparation

1. Combine oil, vinegar, garlic and salt in a large ziptop bag or bowl and mix well.
2. Add the slices tomatoes and coat them well.  Let sit for one hour.
3. Preheat grill to med-high heat. Remove tomatoes from marinade and place on grill.  Reserve marinade. Turn after 3-4 minutes (thicker slices will take longer).  When tomatoes are tender, but not mushy, and have nice grill lines remove from heat.
4. Whisk basil into reserved marinade. Alternate slices of tomato and mozzarella on a platter and drizzle with marinate.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with French bread if desired. 
*White balsamic is more visually appealing in this dish but I love the flavor of a dark Modena balsamic so I prefer to use that.