Fooled by the Mal

All last week, our 50-pound tank of a mutt, Malcolm, grazed on the leaves of our sweet potato leaves. We thought it was cute. Malcolm grazing like a cow on sweet tater leaves. Awwww.

Monday rolled around and Mal seemed lethargic, and this is saying something. He holds the couch down like nobody. But this was a new level of low energy, even for our lazy brown hound//pit bull/beagle mix.

I called Karen at work and she read up on sweet potato leaves and dogs and told me to take him to the vet. They're toxic to dogs, we learned. Though I'm not sure how good our sources were. I wrangled an appointment out of the vet for that afternoon, no mean feat given the time of my call: 4 p.m.

But I knew what the vet was going to say as soon as I held up Malcolm's leash. I knew he was going to be OK. I knew I had been had. He took one look at the leash and stood up, bounded around the living room and pawed at my legs.

Dog wasn't sick. He was just bored. He just wanted to go somewhere.

Slow-roasted tomato bliss

Don't you just love produce-left-in-the-office season in East Tennessee? A kind News Sentinel farmer left a load of Roma tomatoes in our office "please take" spot and I scooped them up. Along with a haul from Maryville's Horn of Plenty, Darren and I had a ton of beautiful tomatoes to eat up. 

One of my most favorite ways to use up a bumper crop of tomatoes is the "aromatic slow-roasted tomatoes" recipe from Cooking Light, available on the My Recipes site. Basically, you toss tomatoes halves with oil, sugar and spices, then spread out on a baking sheet and roast at a low heat for several hours.

I'm not a super tomato lover --- I'm quite picky about them and have never been the "bite into raw one" type. Slow roasting chars and caramelizes the flesh and the sweet and sour pungency is soooo addicting. The first time Darren and I made this recipe, we stood in the kitchen and ate them one by one from the pan. This time, I made twice as many and I'm saving half to make a pasta sauce with roasted garlic. 

You will be very happy with the results. Let me know if you try this recipe!

Coming soon: roasted tomatoes

I woke this morning to the smell of roasting tomatoes. Karen bought a pound of romas last week and set to roasting them early this morning. 

More on that, with photos, later.

Hang'em High -- a sunflower tale

I know, I know. What the heck is it? An art project? These are hanging sunflowers. I lopped off their droopy heads this morning and punched a couple of sticks through the stalks to hang and dry. The one in the foreground is only about 8 inches in diameter. The one in back is about twice that size, though. Looking forward to some fresh sunflower seeds. Unless my rigging doesn't hold up while I'm gone.

Apps, apps, apps

There's a phone app for gardeners who want to identify pests. Could have used this weeks ago. 

The University of Tennessee's Institute of Agriculture unveiled it a few days ago. Check out this release at the UTIA website.

Beating the heat: sunflowers and okra plants standing tall

Karen's right. The heat did a number on the garden, particularly while we were at the beach last month. The green beans look shriveled and ragged, the golden zucchini appears beyond saving, and the tomatoes are rotting.

What a difference two weeks make. 

Too bad we can't eat sunflowers. We have three that are about 7-8 feet tall. They look as strong and stout as small trees. The okra, too, is a hardy survivor but I'm not really a fan of that vegetable. I suppose I will have to learn to like the stuff because we have plenty coming in. Okra and sunflower salad, anyone?

July is time to recover from June

Whew! June was so busy for me, but in great ways. My dear friends, Sally and Rachel, came to visit with their two daughters and we had such fun together. I hope the girls remember their trip to Tennessee fondly. Then, Darren and I were running Scrappy to the vet for his puppy shots and a neuter (he did great; he was running around wild the next day), plus getting him acclimated to Meadowbrooke Kennel with short visits. Meadowbrooke is where we take our pack when we're on vacation, and we love the staff there. They've been a lifesaver!

Next, it was on to Memphis where I helped conduct copy editor and designer training for the Commercial Appeal staff ahead of their switch to Saxotech and InDesign. When I got back from Memphis, we took a day to pack and sleep before heading to Seacrest Beach, Florida, for a week with my family. It was a wonderful month, but I am glad to be home with no pressing plans to make and plenty of time to read in my pajamas.

Our garden (and yard) looks terrible after a month of neglect and record-high temperatures. Today I got out there and yanked the fried plants and emptied pots full of debris, and gave everything a good watering. While I was busy, the little devil decided to play in the mud puddles around the beds. I looked over and he was joyously splashing and jumping in the water. Ugh! Had to add a dog bath to my list of chores today!

Scrappy jumps up to get a closer look at the camera.

This picture doesn't do his dirtiness justice. Don't you just love those paws?!