Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - July 31, 2025

From the Garden Today… Heirloom Slicing & Cherry Tomatoes, Potatoes, Summer Squash, Leaf Lettuce, Cucumbers, Carrots, Bell Peppers, Green Beans, Garlic, Cilantro, Oregano, Basil. Melons, Grapes & Fresh-cut Home-grown Honeycomb

Using Your Produce… by Julie Moreno

This summer pasta comes together quick and easy. The juices from the tomatoes and squash combine with the garlic, white wine and Parmesan cheese to make a flavorful sauce. Make sure to cook the pasta al dente, as it will continue to soak up the broth and pasta water before serving. This makes a great lunch or dinner served with grilled chicken or sausage. For vegetarians, stir in 1 can of rinsed and drained white beans with the tomatoes, for added protein.

Fresh Summer Pasta

8 ounces dry (uncooked) pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt, divided

2 small-medium summer

    squash, diced

2 cups chopped tomatoes or

     halved cherry tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon freshly ground

     black pepper

¼ cup dry white wine

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese,

      plus more for garnish

¼ cup torn fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil

* Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 7 to 9 minutes. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, and set it aside. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt, cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and freshly ground black pepper, cook for 1 minute more. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by about half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the reserved pasta water and the pasta, stir until the liquid is thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and basil, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

Peaches & Dreams

Peaches are now coming ripe, making me recall childhood summers and simpler days: recalling mom and grandma at the kitchen cooktop slicing peaches and debating the better canning peach, freestone or cling; following my father’s footsteps and delivering The Stockton Record, an afternoon daily, except weekends; walking a 70 house suburban route in fierce weekday heat; tossing folded and rubber-banded papers from sidewalk to porch stoop, except Wednesdays and Sundays when ad inserts made the missiles thick, heavy, and as aerodynamic as a brick; walking up paved drives or across green lawns to heave that heavy brick underhanded toward the door stoop; breaking one window in four and one half years of slinging 81,900 missiles and heaving 32,700 bricks; cringing at errant throws cropping ill-placed porch plants; returning home, bags empty and face full red; slipping off shoes and T-shirt before diving into the Doughboy’s cooling water; reaching a ripe peach on the backyard tree and rubbing fuzz onto a damp denim pocket of faded 501 cut-offs; biting into the sweet, satisfying fruit; wondering if I would be more freestone or cling.

More Summer Salads…

In this salad, the fresh basil and crisp cucumbers contrast with the sour cream dressing. Eat this right away or the dressing will start to leach out the water from the cucumbers. This salad is perfect for our extra-long Armenian cucumbers. One large cuke will make this recipe for 2-4 people.

Creamy Basil Cucumber Salad

¼ cup sour cream                  

1 teaspoon white wine           

    vinegar or lemon juice      

1 teaspoon sugar                    

½ teaspoon salt                        

1 large or 2 medium cucumbers,

   peeled if desired and thinly sliced

¼ cup thinly sliced green or red onion

2-3 tablespoons chopped basil

Pepper to taste

* In a large bowl, whisk sour cream, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper until blended. Add cucumbers and onion; toss to coat and stir in the basil. Serve right away.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul…

Tomatoes Have Boundaries?

by Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin

Tomato vines have clear boundaries. They know naturally what they will or won’t do. When their fruit is ripe but remains unpicked, they slow or entirely stop producing fruit. That’s sensible; why work harder to produce more when what is available is overlooked or undervalued and left hanging? Ripe fruit is heavy, takes up valuable vine space, burdens the vine structure, and competes for vital resources needed to reinforce the vine and root system. It makes no sense to produce more when demand has ceased, supply is in surplus, and infrastructure is overwhelmed. In The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith could have written these words about the law of supply and demand: The ‘Invisible Hand’ that guides the economy also shapes the tomato. 

If tomato vines inherently know how to set healthy boundaries, why do humans often find it difficult to do the same? Why do we not readily admit when others have no regard or interest in the fruit we have produced? Why do we continue producing fruit to our detriment rather than redirecting our efforts to reinforce our vines and roots? Conversely, why is it so difficult to value the fruit of others when they have given so much of themselves to grow it? They have produced good fruit, they offer it freely for our enjoyment, yet we disdain it and leave it to die on the vine.

After time with the tomatoes, I walked away challenged and emboldened. I need to recognize the gifts offered by others and take them freely, but not for granted. Their good fruit required significant effort to produce and should be received gratefully. I am emboldened to redirect my efforts, not redouble my production, when my ripe fruit remains unused.  I need to refocus my energies to reinforce my heart and prepare myself for future growth, when it’s wanted. If a tomato vine can do it, so can I! It makes sense. Boundaries set the ground rules for cooperative relationships; they are the “invisible hands” that shape the expectations for respecting each other’s fruit, effort, and vine. Without mutual respect, fruit and relationships are left to die on the vine.

“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”  

Galatians 6:9-10