Wow is there a lot of produce this week! But first an announcement.
Still haven’t seen any construction workers working on our road. Not sure if that is good news or bad news. Anyway, on to our newsletter!
Farm News
Now that we are getting tomatoes I feel it is time to educate those of us who are new to the farm — and perhaps new to heirloom tomatoes — about tomato ripeness. And it is probably a good review for those of us who have been heirloom tomato connoisseurs for some time.
We grow somewhere around 13 different varieties of tomatoes, most of which are heirloom tomatoes. What makes a tomato an heirloom? Well, much like the painting of old great, great grandpa fighting in the Civil War, an heirloom tomato is one that has been passed down through the generations. The difference of course is the heirloom tomato has better taste than dear old great, great grandpa — or so the family lore go. Another definition of an heirloom vegetable is any vegetable that was grown before hybridization was a thing. So somewhere prior to the 1950s.
What makes heirloom tomatoes so special? Maybe it is better to wonder why hybridized tomatoes aren’t special, then work our way back. When humans figured out they could create hybridized vegetables (Mother Nature has been doing this forever) they started hybridizing to make the vegetable more resistant to diseases, or to withstand shipping, or to store longer, or to grow faster, or to grow bigger, or many other things, but seldom did they hybridize to improve flavor (though this is less true more recently). So what we humans — the greatest thinkers in the history of the world — created were the Delicious apple and the hard flavorless tomato, which unsurprisingly taste exactly the same!
Eventually we realized that there is value in having delicious fruits and vegetables so we created Honeycrisp apples and big beef tomatoes — one hybrid variety we grow. However, during all this great scientific work creating new, tasteless varieties the old favorites continued to be passed down from generation to generation and from neighbor to neighbor. So we can still taste the flavors our ancestors tasted back when great, great, grandpa’s mullet haircut was still in fashion (I think it was last in fashion during the 1980s if I’m not mistaken). And not only do we get to enjoy the same great taste but we also get to enjoy the same susceptibility to the many diseases tomatoes can catch, which is why large, commercial tomato growers don’t grow heirloom tomatoes; the risk of crop failure is too high.
But here at Fresh Earth Farms we take on that risk. Why? Because you are worth it, and of course the tomatoes are outstanding! From the juicy, tomato-y flavor of the black krim, to the tangy flavor of the green zebra, each of the tomatoes has its own unique flavor, texture and juiciness. And much like our children, everyone has a favorite.
Wait, there is a tomato you grow which is still green when ripe? Why yes. Yes there is. And that is why we are covering ripeness in today’s Farm News section. The green zebra is still striped green when it is ripe. So how do you know it is ripe? Well like all tomatoes, the riper it is the softer it is. So give it a gentle squeeze. If it doesn’t give at all it is still unripe. If it gives somewhat it is probably good to eat. If it squishes in your hand it is probably ripe and you don’t understand the word gentle. Are there any other indications that it is ripe? Sure. But it seems each tomato has its own identifiers so trying to educate you on all the factors would be folly. Wait, you are giving us unripe tomatoes? What gives? First, not the tomato. Because it the tomato “gives” it would be ripe. And if we gave you all ripe tomatoes you would have to eat all of them the day you pick up — ripe tomatoes don’t keep long. So for the delivery boxes we try to give you a mixture of ripenesses. We leave this task as an exercise for the on-farm members.
Finally, we don’t wash the tomatoes that we grow in our hoop house nor the cherry tomatoes. So please wash them before consuming. In fact, you should be washing all the produce we give you before consuming. Though we wash most of it, it is still imperative that you give it a final wash. What don’t we wash? As I mentioned tomatoes, but also garlic, beans (wet beans rot in the fridge), sweet corn, and dry onions. I think this is all. And speaking of unwashed dry onions, we are at the stage of onion growth where the tops are wilted and browning but the skins haven’t fully cured on the onion bulb. When the tops are green, we wash the onions and leave on the greens. As the tops start drying, we wash the onions and cut the tops off. When the onions are fully cured, we cut the tops off and remove the dry outside lay that may have dirt on it. However when the onions are in between these last two stages we have to determine is it better to give you somewhat dirty onions or try washing onions that are almost dry enough to rub off the outside layer. That is the stage we are at right now. So you may or may not have clean onions in your share. If not, just give them a scrub under water prior to using them.
What will we have this week?
I’m hoping this is the peak week for vegetables. There are a lot to pack in this week’s share! First of all, everyone gets two cucumbers per share. That’s four for CoupleShares and six for FamilyShares. Please look for cucumber recipes and share them on our Facebook Group or Pinterest page. Also these are good places to look for recipes. We also have lots of sweet corn — a variety that has great corn taste! We also have beans, onions, lots of eggplants, lots of tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, lots of squash, cabbage, salad mix, kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes, carrots and beets. I think that is all.
CoffeeShare comes this week. No other shares.
Produce Use Ideas
Here is a recipe one of our members Jan shared with me this week. I haven’t tried it but she likes it. Let me know what you think!
Chilled Creamy Cucumber Soup
Ingredients
3 cucumbers (I like it so far!)
2 c plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced (we aren’t ready to give out garlic yet so we’ll give you garlic chives)
2 t honey
1 lemon
Fresh or dried dill, to taste (we don’t grow dill 🙁
Water
Salt
Pepper
Directions: Peel cucumber and remove seeds. Grate to yield cups.In a food processor combine cucumber, yogurt, garlic (chives), honey and a squirt of lemon. Snip in dill. Process until smooth. Slowly add water until creamy. Season with salt and pepper and continue processing. Pour into bowl and chill. Serve. (I always forget this last part, probably the most essential part of any recipe).
For the eggplant I will once again recommend Eggplant in Hoisin Sauce or Eggplant with Kalamata Olives depending on whether you are in the mood for Asian or Mediterranean cuisine. If you are sick of boiling your sweet corn try grilling it. Or try searching for Mexican sweet corn. Or how about corn chowder? (I don’t have a recipe but have made it before). And of course you can make ratatouille with a lot of the ingredients we are giving out this week.
I think that is more than enough for now. Hopefully you are not overwhelmed with this week’s share. Give some to friends. Have a party! Learn to freeze or can. And as always, do not hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, suggestions, jokes, etc.