Week 8
Sometimes putting up food for the winter becomes as all consuming as farming. We got started early this year in hopes that spreading it out makes it a little easier. We boiled down our first round of crushed tomatoes over the weekend. We will put it in jars and process it tonight. Ruth Matson sums it up well in her August entry in the Cooking by the Garden Calendar.
It sounds wickedly ungrateful to Nature and I hate to confess it, but bountiful August is far from my favorite months in the garden. The kitchen I don't mind so much; it's airy and the house is cool. But the garden! Relentless sun, whirring, biting insects, back and disposition stranded from endless stooping and squatting for interminable picking! I keep wishing so many things wouldn't reach fruition at the same time. April, May, June, July, they're hard work too, but there's always the rich promise of harvest to egg us on. And here it is, the harvest, its thrill beclouded by the urgency of what to do with it all.
She sums it up well although we are fortunate not to have the biting insect problem!
The cauliflower planting is small with several different varieties. As a result there is not gong to be a large single harvest. Everyone will get cauliflower but some of you will get it this week and some of you will get it next week.
Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Cauliflower - Everyone over the next two weeks
Slicing Tomatoes - Small Only
Green Cabbage - Small Only
Basil - Large Only
Green Beans - Large Only
Cherry Tomatoes - Large Only
The following recipe is adapted from the cookbook Jerusalem by Sami Tamini and Yotam Ottolenghi and is simple and delicious. I am going to skip the measurements and just give you a general idea.
Fried Tomatoes with Garlic
Chop some parsley and garlic up. Slice your tomato/tomatoes up into thick slices. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add your tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Cook for about a minute then flip over. Sprinkle with garlic and parsley (I used a lot, the recipe also calls for chopped chile pepper but I didn't have any) and cook for a minute. Flip one more time, cook for just a few seconds and then transfer to a plate and poor juices over the top. You want the tomatoes to be warm and soft but not mushy. They suggest serving it with bread. The pan juices are great.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
I love roasted cherry tomatoes. If I have the time, I cut them in half and place them cut side up on a cookie sheet and roast at a lower temperature for a long time so they dehydrate a little. Roasting them whole at a higher temperature is easier. I love to throw these in pasta or toss with grilled veggies. There are many ways to go about roasting cherry tomatoes. Here is one way from the Barefoot Contessa
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Monday, July 28, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Week 7
We delivered the last of the snap peas to the Co-op Sunday morning. It was a good run. In fact it has been a fantastic season so far. Our stand sales are up significantly as is our whole sale. It feels great. Well, until I look at the tomatoes in our greenhouse on South Bay Road. We have tomatoes in two spots and until a few weeks ago I was so excited about the ones on South Bay. They have thick stalks and are loaded with fruit. The ones on Shincke Road looked far less robust but it can all change in an instant. We just noticed some of the tomatoes at South Bay appear to have some sort of disease. We will send one off to WSU for testing tomorrow. Really, tomato disease two years in a row? Have you ever been sick and looked at the Internet and self diagnosed yourself with some sort of rare, incurable disease? You can get the same kind of paranoia looking up plant diseases on the Internet. If my Internet diagnosis is correct we are going to loose a lot of the plants. Suddenly, I am thankful for our okay looking tomatoes at Shincke and thankful we didn't have all our tomatoes planted in one spot. We tried grafting a few tomatoes this spring. It is similar to grafting apples. You use a root stock that is vigorous and has good disease resistance and then you use a tomato that makes delicious tomatoes for the the top. The seed for the rootstock was pricey so I didn't do very many and then we had a few die due to inexperience. We ended up planting out only about eight plants at South Bay. It will be interesting to see how they fare.
The other two crops we had trouble with last year were garlic and potatoes. All of our garlic is out and hanging and we are really happy with it. You have potatoes in your boxes today and so far so good other than the fact that the deer are eating the heck out of the plants. Potatoes usually don't take a turn for the worse until they get a bit more mature so we are keeping our fingers crossed. These are considered new potatoes and have a thin skin. You don't need to peel them and they taste great no matter how you cook them. Feel free to keep it simple, they are delicious steamed and cook quickly. They won't store so cook them up soon.
Carrots - Purple Haze
Potatoes
Zucchini/Summer Squash
Tropea Onions - Italian sweet onion that has a torpedo shape
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli
Lettuce - Small Only
Red Cabbage - Large Only
Salad Mix - Large Only
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
We delivered the last of the snap peas to the Co-op Sunday morning. It was a good run. In fact it has been a fantastic season so far. Our stand sales are up significantly as is our whole sale. It feels great. Well, until I look at the tomatoes in our greenhouse on South Bay Road. We have tomatoes in two spots and until a few weeks ago I was so excited about the ones on South Bay. They have thick stalks and are loaded with fruit. The ones on Shincke Road looked far less robust but it can all change in an instant. We just noticed some of the tomatoes at South Bay appear to have some sort of disease. We will send one off to WSU for testing tomorrow. Really, tomato disease two years in a row? Have you ever been sick and looked at the Internet and self diagnosed yourself with some sort of rare, incurable disease? You can get the same kind of paranoia looking up plant diseases on the Internet. If my Internet diagnosis is correct we are going to loose a lot of the plants. Suddenly, I am thankful for our okay looking tomatoes at Shincke and thankful we didn't have all our tomatoes planted in one spot. We tried grafting a few tomatoes this spring. It is similar to grafting apples. You use a root stock that is vigorous and has good disease resistance and then you use a tomato that makes delicious tomatoes for the the top. The seed for the rootstock was pricey so I didn't do very many and then we had a few die due to inexperience. We ended up planting out only about eight plants at South Bay. It will be interesting to see how they fare.
The other two crops we had trouble with last year were garlic and potatoes. All of our garlic is out and hanging and we are really happy with it. You have potatoes in your boxes today and so far so good other than the fact that the deer are eating the heck out of the plants. Potatoes usually don't take a turn for the worse until they get a bit more mature so we are keeping our fingers crossed. These are considered new potatoes and have a thin skin. You don't need to peel them and they taste great no matter how you cook them. Feel free to keep it simple, they are delicious steamed and cook quickly. They won't store so cook them up soon.
Carrots - Purple Haze
Potatoes
Zucchini/Summer Squash
Tropea Onions - Italian sweet onion that has a torpedo shape
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli
Lettuce - Small Only
Red Cabbage - Large Only
Salad Mix - Large Only
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Monday, July 14, 2014
Week 6
We did our weekly farm walk about to make a list for the week last night and I am floored at how much stuff has grown, particularly the weeds. My favorite sighting was a melon already as big as my fist. We are going to go out on a limb and say you are all getting cherry tomatoes tomorrow in celebration of and because of the fantastic weather (if you like hot and sunny) that we have been having. I had my first tomato sandwich of the season today and it was great. I also decided to try a customer's recommendation. He eats cucumber, peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. I bet some of you feel a little nauseous just reading that. Anyway, I love mayonnaise and cucumbers and peanut butter isn't bad so why not give it a try. Well, it wasn't horrible but I wouldn't recommend you using your cucumber to make one! Instead perhaps you should use those beets from last week(I know some of you haven't eaten them yet) and make a cucumber, beet and goat cheese sandwich. A couple slices on some tuna fish or egg salad sounds good to me but if I was you I would leave the peanut butter in the cupboard.
I meant to take another picture of the winter squash. It has also grown an amazing amount in the last week. We have one variety, new to us this year, called Hubba Hubba. It has a hubbard squash shape but is suppose to be smaller. I saw one plant today that had already set 10 fruits. Hopefully it is delicious because it seems to be prolific. Plus, I am getting a kick out of saying hubba hubba in a deep voice every time I walk by the row of squash.
We wish you a week of good eating.
Carrots
Cucumbers
Scallions
Swiss Chard
Green Beans
Cherry Tomatoes
Raspberries - Large Only
Lettuce - Large Only
We did our weekly farm walk about to make a list for the week last night and I am floored at how much stuff has grown, particularly the weeds. My favorite sighting was a melon already as big as my fist. We are going to go out on a limb and say you are all getting cherry tomatoes tomorrow in celebration of and because of the fantastic weather (if you like hot and sunny) that we have been having. I had my first tomato sandwich of the season today and it was great. I also decided to try a customer's recommendation. He eats cucumber, peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. I bet some of you feel a little nauseous just reading that. Anyway, I love mayonnaise and cucumbers and peanut butter isn't bad so why not give it a try. Well, it wasn't horrible but I wouldn't recommend you using your cucumber to make one! Instead perhaps you should use those beets from last week(I know some of you haven't eaten them yet) and make a cucumber, beet and goat cheese sandwich. A couple slices on some tuna fish or egg salad sounds good to me but if I was you I would leave the peanut butter in the cupboard.
I meant to take another picture of the winter squash. It has also grown an amazing amount in the last week. We have one variety, new to us this year, called Hubba Hubba. It has a hubbard squash shape but is suppose to be smaller. I saw one plant today that had already set 10 fruits. Hopefully it is delicious because it seems to be prolific. Plus, I am getting a kick out of saying hubba hubba in a deep voice every time I walk by the row of squash.
We wish you a week of good eating.
Carrots
Cucumbers
Scallions
Swiss Chard
Green Beans
Cherry Tomatoes
Raspberries - Large Only
Lettuce - Large Only
Monday, July 7, 2014
Week 5
In my kitchen as a child there was a small antique wood framed slate chalkboard on the wall. I always loved it and when I spotted a small chalkboard at a yard sale when I first moved to town I picked it up and hung it in our kitchen. When I bought it someone had written the word fall and drawn a tree with swirling leaves. I liked it and have kept up the seasonal theme, sort of. At the moment there is still a winter quote on it from Albert Camus.
I wrote it on there during the dreariest days of winter to be taken literally but of course Camus meant it more metaphorically. Spring has come and gone and I need a summer quote. This is most likely the last week of peas in bountiful quantities and it looks like we will be picking beans by the end of the week. Cherry tomatoes are just starting to pick. Tomorrow marks our last seeding of fall cabbages and broccoli for transplant. Sometimes I feel like farming is like riding a train screaming through the countryside with things passing in a blur.
In my kitchen as a child there was a small antique wood framed slate chalkboard on the wall. I always loved it and when I spotted a small chalkboard at a yard sale when I first moved to town I picked it up and hung it in our kitchen. When I bought it someone had written the word fall and drawn a tree with swirling leaves. I liked it and have kept up the seasonal theme, sort of. At the moment there is still a winter quote on it from Albert Camus.
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer
I wrote it on there during the dreariest days of winter to be taken literally but of course Camus meant it more metaphorically. Spring has come and gone and I need a summer quote. This is most likely the last week of peas in bountiful quantities and it looks like we will be picking beans by the end of the week. Cherry tomatoes are just starting to pick. Tomorrow marks our last seeding of fall cabbages and broccoli for transplant. Sometimes I feel like farming is like riding a train screaming through the countryside with things passing in a blur.
Last week we uncovered the winter squash which we managed to plant at all three of the gardens we lease. I took this picture of the squash at Shincke road yesterday.
If any of you would like to take a walk around the gardens on Shincke, you are welcome to do so any Monday you pick-up your box. Kelly or I would be happy to join you(if you come after 5:00) if you want company and commentary.
Beets
Head Lettuce
Cilantro - There is a recipe below for a lentil salad we love this time of year that calls for cilantro. I also have been making a dressing that is similar to Caesar but I leave out the mustard, trade the lemon juice for lime juice and add a bunch of cilantro. As with Caesar dressing the egg yolk makes it rich and creamy.
Snap Peas
Onions- Most likely some small Walla Wallas that we are going to bunch
Raspberries
Garlic
Summer Squash - Large Only
Cauliflower - Large Only
Last night we made this salad with wheat bulgar because it it what we had on hand. I always add extra cilantro because we love it. It is really versatile and the lime zest is a nice change of pace from the lemon flavor that one usually finds in lentil salads. It is good warm or cold.
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