From the Farmers….
If ever you were to store away tomatoes for the long… cold… no fresh food … winter ---- this would be the year! We have an absolute bumper crop of tomatoes this year. After waiting weeks and weeks thinking that possibly it might freeze before the tomatoes turned ripe, we are swimming in tomatoes. And you get to share in that abundance! We are including a recipe for a quick tomato sauce – a good way to use a lot of tomatoes – and a sauce that you can freeze or use in a variety of ways. We also suggest making a beautiful colorful confetti salsa using all the colors of tomatoes, peppers and onions.
On Tuesday at the farm we canned a couple bushels of the Orange Blossom tomatoes and then made a batch of salsa to eat fresh with hot off the griddle homemade tortillas and the rest to put in jars and process. Using the many colors of produce makes food that is as much art as delicious.
On Tuesday, we also pulled the first frames of honey from the bee hives. We just purchased a simple three frame honey extractor and were excited to begin removing honey from our bees. We extracted a little over three gallons of honey from the first super (10 frames).
Sara Remington, the photographer for the cookbook we will be in, has been here this week to take a million photos for the cookbook. It has been fun having her here – reminding us in many ways why we are farmers – why we grow food that goes directly to families like you - why we believe that creating community is so important – why we think CSA farming is one of the best ways to farm – why we believe in SLOW food – why we have such a diversified farm – why we do all the peripheral things like raising bees, making cheese, making beer, canning and freezing and drying food… that go along with that farming.
Until next week …..
WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE
Cantaloupe - Superstar, Pulsar, Eclipse or Classic,
Watermelons - Sunshine(round striped – yellow) or New Orchid (round striped – orange) or Starlight (round striped – red) or Blacktail Mountain (round dark green – red) or Sweet Siberian (oval striped – orange) or Mickey Lee (round pale green – red)
Onions - Walla Walla or Candy, Red Candy Apple
Squash - Pasta Hybrid Spaghetti, Small Wonder Spaghetti
Eggplant - Dancer (pink oval) Galine (purple oval) Thai Green (green long) Orient Charm (pink long) Orient Express (purple long)
Sweet Peppers - Islander (purple bell) Carmen (green bull horn) Gypsy (yellow)
Snapper (green bell), Lipstick or Apple (2” by 4”green to red)
Hot Peppers - Serrano del Sol (1/2” x 3” green), Conchos (green jalapeno 2” x 2”)
Tomatoes - Taxi (yellow) Orange Blossom (orange) New Girl (small red) Paragon (large red) Pink Beauty (dark pink) Green Zebra
Bok Choi - Mei Quing Choi
Zucchini - Zephyr, Cavelle, Sunburst, Raven, Elite or Bennings Green Tint
Carrots – Cosmic Purple
Cabbage – Red Express
Kale – Red Russian
Swiss Chard – Northern Lights
Turnips – Just Right (not sure it these will be in the box this week)
Basil
Sage
Basic Quick-Cooked Tomato Sauce
From the Gardners Community Cookbook by Victoria Wise
5 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, juices reserved
1 large onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 tablespoon dried basil
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ cup tomato paste
Place all ingredients in a large nonreactive pot and stir to mix. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring once or twice, for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Use the right away or cool and refrigerate for up to one week. Note: For longer storage, the sauce may also be packed into sterilized jars and processed in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, or after cooling can be frozen. Makes 7 cups
Tomato Sauce as an Ingredient
When a recipe calls for tomato sauce to mix into the dish rather than star as a topping, you can easily turn either of the basics tomato sauces into that ingredient. To do so, puree the sauce as fine as possible in a food processor for a chunky version. Put through a food mill for a smooth sauce.
