So Many Tomatoes, So Little Time

Each year presents an enormous challenge to decide on which variety of tomatoes we are going to offer in the farm share. From fruits as large as grape fruits to as small as grapes- from reds as deep as ox blood to just the faintest blush of pink...Really, I love them all. This year we narrowed it down to seven varieties, and then at the last minute heard from Jason's Grandmother about a rare variety called the German Johnson that she absolutely adores- one of the only varieties she will grow. I consulted ten of my seed companies- two had seeds- and one of these was already sold out. In February. I was determined, and Johnny's Selected Seeds came through- and now we are offering up eight varieties.

Here's the run down in alphabetical order.

Amish Paste 

Large heirloom for a sauce tomato, Amish Paste's slightly irregular plum-to strawberry shaped fruits average  8 to 12 ounces with excellent flavor. These meaty tomatoes are good in salads and great for processing. A Slow Food USA Ark of Taste variety. 

Cherokee Purple

An unusual heirloom variety with full flavor. Medium-large, flattened globe fruits. Color is dusky pink with dark shoulders. Multilocular interior ranges from purple to brown to green. 

Cor Di Bue

This Ox heart type Italian heirloom has been a favorite in Italy for many years. Beautiful 12 ounce fruit have a delicious sweet taste; similar to the shape of a heart; great for fresh eating or cooking. Hard to find variety.

German Johnson

An heirloom with Excellent flavor. Deep pink tomatoes are earlier, more uniform, and slightly smaller than Brandywine at 8-16 ounces. Fruits have lots of deep, acidic tomato flavor and a rich, creamy texture. There are two strains of this variety; this is the regular-leaved strain, which is earlier and more productive than the potato-leaved strain. 

Italian Heirloom
Outstanding heirloom variety from Italy. Plants are loaded with red fruits weighing in over a pound. One of the most productive varieties we have grown in previous years. Excellent full tomato flavor perfect for slicing and canning. Very easily peeled with little waste.

Roma
An Italian heirloom variety with very heavy 2 to 3 ounce fruits perfect for making sauces, salsas, and pastes.

Rose
An heirloom variety that Rivals the Brandywine (one of Kristin's favorites) for taste. Deep pink and smoother than Brandywine, Rose is every bit as meaty and flavorful. 

Yugoslav
A pink beefsteak variety which weigh up to a pound each. Fruits have near perfect shoulders that almost never crack. A delicious full tomato flavor.

2014 Farmshare Information

This weekend marks the official start to the 2014 growing season. The fields are being readied, the containers being domed for seed starting, and the small plots are being cleared of winter's die offs. We are way ahead of schedule this spring compared to last- mostly due to putting the old Ford tractor back in action after a successful repair last Autumn. We remain committed to organic gardening methods as much as is possible and we are making some method improvements this year to improve yields. Last year was a wet wet season and the weeds were overpowering. This year we are employing a torch method before planting that will kill off most top level soil weed seeds without having to resort to weed killer sprays or days and days of backbreaking labor. In larger fields we will also be using a weed barrier to help prevent weeds from taking over. The dreaded Asian drosophila made it's appearance in the Ohio River Valley and we were not spared. We are thrilled that we had such an intensely cold winter as it knocked back whatever foothold these little devils made last year here in Ohio. The likelihood is that spraying fruits will become a necessity but we will be using a method of monitoring for them first before resorting to sprays. The flies did not become a problem last year till mid to late July. We are witnessing a life changing commitment to organic gardening in this little area of ours. For the first time in decades there will be no GMO mass crops anywhere on the adjoining farms to Twin Creeks Farm. This is a huge win for all of the honey bees in our vicinity. It's a huge win for small farming in these parts!

Our weekly box assortment is more planned this year. It will begin mid May and run through September for 20 weeks. As of now, pick up day will be on early Friday evening. We watched closely last year and the weekend seems to be the time when most meal planning for the coming week takes place. The 20 week Farmshare price is $300. Boxes will contain at least 8 item shares. Following is a breakdown of what will be grown in each season, followed by what you can expect with each item share. An item in italics designates a crop we are growing but may have problems getting a high enough yield based on previous years growing.

Spring

Asparagus (1 dozen)

Beets ( 1/2 dozen)

Green Onions (1/2 dozen)

Cooking Herbs (2 large sprigs)

Horseradish (prepared)

Kale (1/2 pound)

Kohlrabi (1 bulb)

Lettuces (1/2 pound)

Pac Choi (1 head)

Parsnips (3)

Radishes (1/2 dozen)

Spinach ( 1/4 pound)

Turnips (2)

Summer

Beans (1 pound)

Beets (1/2 dozen)

Cabbage (1 head)

Carrots (1/2 dozen)

Cooking Herbs (2 large sprigs)

Cucumbers (2)

Kale (1/2 pound)

Lettuces (1/2 pound)

Onions (3)

Potatoes (2 pounds)

Raspberries (1 pint)

Shallots (1/2 dozen)

Spinach (1/4 pound)

Strawberries (1 quart)

Summer Squashes (2)

Swiss Chard (1/2 pound)

Tomatoes (6)

Turnips (2)

Autumn

Apples (2 pounds)

Beans (1 pound)

Beets (1/2 dozen)

Carrots (1/2 dozen)

Corn (1/2 dozen ears)

Cooking Herbs (2 large sprigs)

Eggplant (1)

Onions (3)

Peppers (4)

Squash (2)

Swiss Chard (1/2 pound)

All Seasons Add Ons as Available- Fresh Baked Bread ( 1 round or oblong loaf), Eggs (1 dozen), Honey (1 pint), and assorted canned items such as jams, pickles, preserved fruits and vegetables, and salsas (by the pint or quart).

Three Things the Farm Has Taught Me

Into the Wild

  

  The picture above was taken by one of my best childhood friends. It's our girls a few years ago, captured in a perfect moment of wild abandon, running through a small stretch of trees on the north side of our farm.  To this day, it remains my favorite picture ever taken here at the farm, and believe me when I say, we've taken a lot of pictures in seven years time. It's one of my favorites because I don't remember the rest of the scene- how much work there was to do that day around the grounds, the endless lists, etc. etc. etc. The truth of 99% of all farms is that the entire picture is hardly glorious- or glamorous. Open up any garden or country home magazine, and that truth may come as a shock, even a disappointment, to some. Those beautiful magazines spreads take a little creative cropping- and more than a little elbow grease to put together.  We've all been to those farms where you can see generations of farm equipment stranded about like some sort of mechanical graveyard, and piles of mulch, gravel, dirt, and sand like little mountain vistas in wherever the truck who brought said things decided to dump them.  The reality is this is the truth of most farms. They are places of work first- and beauty second. My best advice to someone embarking upon a farming venture- You must become a person who sees the glass half full- not half  empty. If you do not, you will surely drive yourself mad, and it will not take long to do so. If the photo shoot accompanied pictures of the inside of the house, and the family has children- they probably called in the guard to clean and removed the family for a few days. There is little time to pick up toys and clean toilets when there are hundreds of pounds of berries ripening on the vines and bushes outside. And they wait for no one. So the moral is, appreciate those beautiful shiny pictures, but don't hold your own place to those standards. It's not real. 

White beets from red seeds

     Your farm is a living breathing thing- and not much will go as planned. You will plant seeds nicely packaged or collected from your own plants, and you will get some surprises. It never fails. This was an oddity to me after so many years of neat and tidy hobby gardening. Watermelons will show up where you planted cantaloupes, red beets will have a few white ones (sometimes more than a few) just to keep you on your toes, and strange and wonderful things will hitch a ride when you move older plants from one spot to another. Let go of your expectation that everything should look like a checkerboard. Nature knows no boundaries and will follow its own whims all the time- and every time. If you are an organic gardener, go right now and write this statement on the blackboard one hundred times- I'm speaking especially to you.

     The last thing, and maybe the most important- your grocery store is a lie... just like the magazines. Food grown locally, and especially organically, doesn't look like your large chain produce center. You won't see fresh tomatoes in December, and you won't get big fat fresh peas in August. At least not by the usual means. Cucumbers will most not likely be 8 inches long and perfectly shaped like the Hindenburg blimp. They may be short and egg shaped. Carrots may surprise you with the oddest of shapes. We pulled two last week that looked like perfectly matched lovers entwined in the deep soil. It was incredibly cool and ushered more than a few "Awwww  isn't that sweet" comments. Things like kohlrabi and beets will seem minuscule in size when best prepared. That's because as a farmer you learn these things are best eaten super early and bigger is not usually better in taste. In short, your grocer has to lure you by your eyes, and not your taste buds. You cannot eat before you buy in the grocery store. What you are staring at in the produce section is most likely a selection of vegetable Supermodels- hybridized and GMO'd for maximum visual pleasure.

      Having said all this, having your own place to grow things and raise your own animals is unlike any adventure you will ever know. You will learn something new every day, and experience something new every day. There will be moments of beauty that literally take your breath- even when your to do list could keep you busy for the rest of the calendar year. You will never have it all done, and that realization will make you nuts for a while. One day you will learn to really appreciate the beauty of a perfectly weeded row of pepper plants, or stop in amazement when there are hundreds of larkspur in bloom that weren't in bloom yesterday. And your heart will be full. It will make you wonder how you ever lived any other way before this. 

The Baker

I'm always looking for new ways to use the freshly harvested fruits and vegetables here at the farm. Many times, it simply involves tweaking an old standby basic recipe. This morning I was at a loss as to what to make for breakfast. I had some serious kitchen cleanup to attend to, and I needed something quick that wouldn't add to my cleaning chores. I was also craving something sweet. Enter the Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins- with just a hint of vanilla, cinnamon , and sea salt. I started with my basic muffin recipe.

 In a medium size bowl mix 1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt. (Coarse sea salt really gives you a better salty flavor and it's a random event- the salt doesn't evenly mix so it's a surprise when your tongue lands on a crystal!) In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cups sugar (for this muffin I used dark brown sugar which gives a more caramelized flavor) 1 beaten fresh egg, 3/4 cups milk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. In a separate small bowl, tear about 3/4 cups fresh washed raspberries into two pieces and set aside. Also set aside 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Line a muffin pan with paper liners- this recipe makes 12 muffins that really fluff up high. Combine your dry ingredients with your wet till just mixed, then add the raspberries and chips and very carefully mix in. Spoon dollops of the batter into the liners until they are nearly full. Bake at 400 degrees F until tops are just turning a golden tan. Let cool for 10 minutes before unwrapping- or they will stick to the liners. Waiting is the hardest part!

Raspberries ready for picking!

Chinese Cabbage

One of the most rewarding things about growing your own food is the ability to experiment with other countries' food staples. For a few years now we have been growing Pak Choi, a close relative of Bok Choi, also known as Chinese cabbage. This is an amazing plant to watch grow, it's glossy large leaves seemingly grow as you stand there watching it. They are loaded with water, giving this plant  crisp thick leaves that hold up well to the wok pan.This is an ancient plant with a light sweet flavor that blends well in most stir fry dishes and Asian soups. It's high in both vitamins A and C, so when one of our farm share families whipped up this dish below for her seven year old, it was a proud moment for me, the grower.

Any way you look at it, this dish is simply beautiful. The choi was simply cut into bite sized pieces and added to the shrimp after they were almost cooked through. As you can see, toasted sesame oil was the base of the fry, along with sesame seeds. Served over rice and quinoa, this dish was super healthy. Both the leaves and stems are edible of choi, and I can't wait to expand this crop next year. If you haven't yet received a Pak Choi let me know!

New Leaves

There's nothing more satisfying than newly picked lettuces. This year's mix is a combination of nine different leaf lettuces and kale. Colors range from light green Black Seeded Simpson, deep green Romaine picked as an early leaf, mottled shades of green and red in Rossa di Trento,  the deep deep burgundies of New Red Fire, to the blues of the Dwarf Scotch Curled Kale.  Leaves picked between 3 and 6 inches offer the cleanest purest flavor. Left much longer than that and leaves begin to taste bitter. Picking lettuces often and early also prevents the plants from bolting. Once that happens, pack it up, and begin again because the flavor is lost once the plant sets seed. Throughout Spring and Summer and right into to Autumn, I could eat a fresh salad bowl every day and never tire of the experience. Store bought greens are just not the same. You'll find that your salads when picked fresh need very little dressing- less is more in these salads as you don't want to obscure their flavors. I am always looking for new lettuces so let me know your favorites on the Facebook pages.

The Herb Garden

Oregano spreading in the new herb garden

Herbs truly make the kitchen go from average to excellent. I have grown herbs for years and much prefer them fresh for cooking than the dried varieties found on my spice rack. The herb situation here at the farm was less than organized. They were here, there, and everywhere. Some in pots, some in plots, some in the garden- it was a scavenger hunt every time I needed something. My Mother in Law has an amazingly beautiful herb garden. It is all in one place and just a place I love to walk around and take it all in. So I dreamed of having something similar here that we could all share. The idea was to have it near the driveway so that last minute as everyone leaves with their fresh produce and meals on their minds, they could stop and cut fresh herbs to take home. It also meant everything would be in one place. As luck would have it, providence moved when I lost my favorite ornamental pear tree in a violent storm last year. What was once a very shaded garden was suddenly open to the sky. It had many flowering bulbs which naturally divided it into sections but there was still a lot of open space once the weeds were cleared. Most of the weeds were violets, which we have in abundance, so I had no issue removing them here. After many many weeks of clearing violets, the herb garden is about ninety percent complete. Most has been started with thickly planted seed, but some has been transplanted from around the farm.

Here is what we have planted so far:

Basil

Borage

Chamomile

Chives

Cilantro/ Coriander

Cumin

Dill

Lemon Balm
Mints

Oregano

Parsley

Rosemary

Sage

Tarragon

Thyme

I have yet to find time to consult my herb books and see what I'm missing- so if you have any further suggestions for what you would like to see planted tell me soon! I have about forty lavender plants started from parent plants that will also be transferred into this plot. Herbs are one of those things you can never have too much or too many of so I plan on packing this plot full to capacity.