Out of Hibernation

Yeah, yeah. It's been a long time. A really long time, I know. I've been in Mexico and Santa Barbara, and busy with work and developing other projects, and amid all the activity, my beloved little blog has lay fallow. But with the summer season underway, and a weekend of gardening ahead, I'm making this ground--along with my new veggie plot--fertile again.
It's late for tomatoes, but I'm starting with healthy little plants, so I'm hopeful about the results. The arugula, nasturtium, radishes and carrots are going in from seed in a newly cleared sunny space with a built-in irrigation system. So the prospects are promising. Plus, I have expert advice coming in from The Most Senior Cheese, my father. A few of choice words of wisdom on tomato cultivation from him below:

"Recognizing the tomato hornworm is important. These are really ugly suckers that can ruin the plant. They look like a green rhinoceros without legs. Any white things on the hornworm will be wasp larvae. They will take care of the hornworm. Otherwise you should get them off the plant and send them to Allah.

Love, dad"

It seems my father has declared a fatwa on garden pests. Now, I am a pacifist by nature, practicing ahimsa as a rule, but if the hornworms are done in by wasp larvae, far be it from me to get in the way of their martyrdom.

And with that, I'll leave you with this, a completely unrelated, but nevertheless clever idea for summer sipping: when serving sangrita as your tequila chaser: present it in these cloyingly cute cucumber cups with cilantro stem stirs.
And no, I didn't innovate these little receptacles--I saw them online somewhere. To make sangrita, experiment with amounts to create a pleasing mixture of blended tomato juice, OJ, worchestershire, onion, cilantro, chipotle, salt and pepper. And for the cups, just cut your cuke into thirds and use a melon baller to gingerly scoop out some of the flesh and create your cup. Voila!