tomato girl summer

a catalog of some things I've been making this summer

Dear Reader,

As I write this, August is in full swing. I love this time of year (as a Leo rising). I feel like the best version of me when I’m lying outside next to a body of water, alternating between swimming and reading my book. I know we live in a world where August is back to school and ‘summer’s over’ but I cherish every last moment of this blessed season. Lately I have been eating tomatoes nonstop, reading as often as possible and working on finishing a couple of knitting projects. I sewed myself some new things to wear that I have been living in. In a perfect world I could do nothing but sew an entirely new wardrobe and spend every day at the beach. Alas, I am still bopping back and forth between Detroit and Grand Rapids every week to spend time with my family and hang out with my Grandma who is in hospice.

This weekend I am going up north to teach a marigold dye workshop in Traverse City at Farm Club. Having an annual trip to Northern Michigan is so necessary for my soul. Teaching a class or two helps me to offset a cost and hold my accountable to actually do the damn thing. The air feels different there and Lake Michigan feels like the ocean. Driving through the winding country roads and seeing the farms, the old cherry drive in and the waterfront fills me with a feeling of peace that’s hard to describe in words.

Here are some things I have been cooking, sewing, and knitting lately. At the end there’s a little garden update as well :)

Cooking

I’m currently very rich in tomatoes and loving it. My favorite burst cherry sauce is made by caramelizing a red onion, sauteeing some garlic and then adding a ton of cherry tomatoes until they burst open and simmer into the perfect sauce. Best served with homemade fresh pasta. Perfection! I made Claire Saftizs’ focaccia recipe after eating it at the beach made by my friend Mollie. It was so fluffy and moist and delicious (she made us chicken caesar sandwiches on homemade focaccia..!) I had to try the recipe myself. It uses an obscene amount of olive oil but that’s what makes it fantastic. I love to make “focaccia art” with the tomatoes and greens :)

foccacia made with my garden tomatoes and parlsey using Claire Saffitz recipe

raspberry ricotta cake for a backyard bbq

We don’t have air conditioning in the kitchen and I really do try to keep the baking to a minimum…But I cannot resist baking a yummy cake for a friend’s party and a peach cobbler for my family.

Smitten Kitchen caramel peach cobbler… YUM

Knitting & Sewing

a free styled dress, a tissue box cover, vest no. 01, and two sommar tank tops

Lately I have been doing quick and easy sewing projects that I can add to my summer wardrobe. I sewed this brown striped dress with vintage fabric that I have been wearing nonstop. It’s the perfect summer dress! I sewed myself two Arq adjacent spaghetti strap tank tops in secondhand fabric from Arts & Scraps using the Sommar camisole pattern. I admired a friend’s Heather Taylor Home tissue box cover and then immediately ran to the studio to my my own version. I’ve been spending a lot of time knitting by my Grandma’s bedside.

I finally finished this yellow vest no. 01. The yarn is a merino bamboo blend that I got from…you guessed it.. Art’s and Scraps! I can’t wait to wear this more when the weather cools down.

finished knitting cardigan no 7! just needs some buttons

I finally finished this cardigan I have been long neglecting. The discipline it takes to fiddle with and fix an unfinished project instead of casting on a new one is herculean! I reknit all of the ribbing (bottom, button paneland neck) over the last week or so because I wasn’t happy with how floppy it looked. It needed to be redone with a smaller needle. This may seem finnicky but if I don’t like the way the details are in a handmade piece I will literally never wear it. I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes and Aloft mohair to knit Cardigan No. 07. This is the first cardigan I have made. I am so pleased with it now! I just need to pick out buttons - I’m thinking tortoiseshell. My Grandma suggested gold.

I’m going to branch out and try something a bit more complicated for my next project. I’ll be trying the Ziggy Sweater by Rows Knitwear. I have never knit a henley style half button up sweater and I love the texture and color of the stitches. I’m swatching now to find the right yarns from my stash (I am not allowed to buy more yarn…!).

Gardening

Yesterday I filled an entire basket with cherry tomatoes. I’m growing pear cherry tomatoes (so cute!!), sun golds (my favorite) and black cherry tomatoes. I don’t bother with the large heirlooms anymore because the squirrels end up eating a big chunk out of them.

I have been making a lot of tomato sauce with pasta. I’m thinking of making a tomato galette next. I love this time of year and I never get sick of being tomato rich. For some reason my cucumbers were really yellow and not doing well this year. I had several deformed and molding on the vine yellow cucumbers yesterday so I decided to just yank the whole plant out and compost it. C’est la vie!!

My marigolds and nasturtiums are popping off and my Japanese indigo is doing very well.I haven’t had time to do any fresh leaf indigo dyeing but I am hoping to do that soon. I have several large butternut squashes that are spreading and taking over one of my community garden plots. They overshadow the potatoes and I wonder if I should rearrange things next year. I wanted to plant flowers next to my house but the time got away from me and it’s filled with crazy weeds that I need to pull now. I think I may plant some garlic this year when the fall rolls around.

I’m enjoying sharing these dispatches so much. Thank you for being here and for reading.

xoxo

Meg