This week’s newsletter is going to focus on tomatoes. But first a few announcements.
This week we will have carrots, peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, beans, tomatillos, cabbage, and quite possibly watermelon. Peppers, tomatoes and beans will be in abundance!
FruitShare arrives this week with a mixed box of peaches, pluots and grapes. Should be delicious!
CheeseShare arrives Friday.
We are now selling canning tomatoes. Canning tomatoes are tomatoes that are generally (though not necessarily) lesser quality than the ones we give out. They may have blemishes but work well for canning. Price is $15 for a half bushel. A half bushel fills 6-9 quarts. If you would like canning tomatoes please let me know and we will set some aside for you. We can also deliver them to drop sites.
Here is bean recipe from Sue Manning www.whatsyourhealthy.com.
Braised Green Beans & Summer Veggies
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, halved and sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano , or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 cup white wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 medium summer squash, or zucchini, halved and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, or grape tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheeseHeat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and oregano and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add wine (or broth) and bring to a boil. Add green beans, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add summer squash (or zucchini) and tomatoes and continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.
Now on to the 2012 Tomato Key!
I thought it would be helpful to provide a visual guide to the many tomatoes we are growing this year. Below are pictures of the tomatoes along with brief descriptions. Hopefully you will find this beneficial!
Ananas Noir, or black pineapple, is a striped tomato that can easily reach 1.5 pounds. The skin is green, yellow and purple. The flesh is green with red streaks. A beautiful as well as tasty tomato.
This is a great name for a tomato. We chose it due to its resemblance to Hungarian heart, one of our standard heirloom offerings. Basinga is a heart shaped tomato with yellow skin tinged with red at the tip. Quite lovely! It has a sweet, delicate tangy flavor.
One of our standard big, red tomatoes. Nothing fancy. Just a darn good tomato.
Black Krim was originally found in Krim Russia. A delicious, full-flavored fruit with deep red flesh. Wonderful tomato for sandwiches or burgers.
What chemist couldn’t love a tomato named Carbon? This tomato is the basis for all life found on the planet Earth. It is a dark tomato more rounded than Black Krim, or Cherokee purple. Another tasty black tomato!
Another standard large red tomato. It ripens loads of fruit. Good looking and tasting!
Chalk’s Early Jewel is a nice, early tomato that provides an overwhelming abundance of delicious fruit. Fruits tend to be on the smaller side though one plant seems to be producing unusually large fruits. Shoulders seem to stay green.
An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890. It has a wonderful dark purple skin (with green shoulders) and flesh. Much like the other purple tomatoes, this one is delicious, especially sliced on a sandwich or part of a tomato salad.
Brought from Germany in the late 1800s. Smooth, round, medium sized fruit with a deep pink color (not really purple in my opinion). I can’t vouch for the taste since I haven’t tried it yet.
Large, pink fruit. Very meaty with excellent flavor.
Yellow, red-streaked skin and flesh makes Gold Medal a most attractive tomato. The taste is sweet and flavorful. Eat it with a bit of blue or other pungent cheese for a taste explosion!
In my opinion, Golden Sunray is the Big Beef of yellow tomatoes. Good-sized fruit. Great flavor. Virtually blemish-free. Makes a great tomato display when used with other colored tomatoes.
A large — frequently over a pound — fruit with light skin and flesh. Sweet flavor.
Green Zebra is one of our standard heirloom tomatoes. It’s as beautiful as it is tasty. With green striped skin and green flesh, it provides a great contrast to other tomatoes in a tomato salad. Smallish round fruit.
Nothing says delicious like Hungarian Heart tomatoes. Very meaty, very large heart shaped fruit. We once grew one that weighed 2.4 pounds! One of our standard heirloom tomatoes we grow year after year.
Large orange beefsteak tomato that has nothing to do with Kellogg’s breakfast cereal. Fruit is frequently over 1 pound. Good sweet/acid balance.
Not to be confused with Basinga. King of Siberia does not have the red point, which makes all the difference! Another heart shaped, yellow tomato with tasty yellow flesh.
Great flavor for an early tomato. New Girl comes in small, single sized servings. Perfect for a sandwich or use a bunch for salsa! The distinguishing feature of New Girls are the points on the blossom end of the fruit.
Pink Ponderosa is a strikingly beautiful tomato. Fruits vary widely in size. The taste is wonderful.
This is our standard Roma tomato. Not necessarily tasty but meaty and productive. Great for making sauces.
One of two of our cherry tomatoes. More complex flavor than our other cherry though still quite sweet!
This is our other cherry tomato. An incredibly sweet cherry tomato. It is like eating candy. It is orange when ripe.
Don’t wait for this tomato to turn red. Tasty Evergreen stays green, though with a bit of yellow. And boy is it tasty! Great for a tomato salad.
How can you argue with Truckers? Pink, 3″ globe shaped fruit. Excellent flavor.
Is it possible? A tomato more beautiful than Green Zebra? Small fruit though incredibly productive. I’m not sure about the flavor. Let me know if you like it.
In my opinion, the most delicious of the Brandywine tomatoes. We’ve grow Yellow Brandywines for quite some time. Sweet, yellow flesh works quite well with blue cheese.
Beautiful yellow/red striped fruit. Good looking and good tasting.
Hopefully you find this helpful. As always, do not hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, etc.