Heirloom Harvest

Pipes Dreamed

We completed the irrigation pipe installation that runs to the back field. We are looking forward to rotating more planting next year back to that area. Rotating crops is important to allow fields to “rest,” a process in which natural processes return nutrients to the soil while fields are not being cultivated. A lot of farms in the Boston region don’t have enough land to do proper rotation, so they wind up adding a lot of amendments to the soil to make up for that, including adding cow, horse, chicken and chicken manure. We are fortunate to have as much land as we do have, which makes us more unusual in being able to apply our energy elsewhere.

New face

Sunday, a new farmhand started. Scott Lodzieski is a graduate of the organic farming program at UC Santa Cruz; he will be with us the rest of the season.

Onion Time

The onions in this week’s earlier blog pictures are red sweet onions and white sweet onion. They are not storage onions, so members will want to use them within a month of receiving them in a share. They are being cured right now in the open greenhouse with fans circulating the air around them, which is a process that will increase their storage life a little bit. You want to store them in a cool dry place. If they haven’t been properly cured, they could rot sooner, but they should be pretty well cured by the time people get them.

Needed: Volunteers

We need people to complete their work hours – we still have about 40 shares that have put in no work hours yet, and a number of others who have done partial hours but not completed their commitments. To make sure you get your work done while there’s still time, contact Larry and Pat Basset, our work coordinators. To schedule an opportunity to work, contact them at padoo1@rcn.com.

Golden

See Red

Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

Via member Peg Monahan: We grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs in our home garden, so I am always on the lookout for recipes that use all three (preferably in copious quantities!). I found this one last year on epicurious.com, and we like it so much, I make it once a week from mid-August to October. It's simple, delicious, and quick to make. (Cooks' note: I use low fat mayonnaise and fat free buttermilk--who needs the fat and calories from the real stuff?--and whatever varieties of tomatoes we have on hand. The buttermilk dressing can be made without chives one day ahead and chilled, covered; whisk in chives before serving. For more variety, stir in other finely chopped herbs such as basil, thyme, or tarragon.)

Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
2 cups mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh chives
6 medium cucumbers, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
2 heads iceberg lettuce, cored and cut into 2-inch chunks

Whisk together mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste until smooth, then whisk in chives.
Put cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce into bowls and serve with dressing.

More to Come

Trish Stepanko gives lettuce seedlings and other baby greens a soaking in the greenhouse.

Say: Those Tomatoes are Ripe?

Of course, we are looking for recipes, as always. It’s eggplant and tomato peak season, and we welcome suggestions for how best to tame the bounty. The heirloom tomatoes – which with the exception of just one variety this year, are ripe without turning tomato orangey-red – are remarkable in recipes thanks to their appearance. The varieties for this year also have higher sugar and higher acid content. Waiting for them to turn red, which some members have done in the past, is futile – instead, use the feel of their skin under your fingertip or other benchmarks as an indicator of whether you should eat them. Not all tomatoes have always been red, and these are not. This year, the farm is producing Great White, which is whitish and huge; Ananis Noir, a multicolored red/brown/green; we have an abundance of of Black Krim, with a burgundy bottom and green shoulders; and Rose, which is true to its name and reputedly comparable to a brandywine; Striped German, which is yellow and red; Green Zebra, with a tiger stripe; and the reddish one is Red Iraq – you can tell it because it looks ordinary but is binned with the heirlooms.

I continue growing most of the varieties that I do because they get good reviews from members. I look forward to hearing members’ feedback.

To come

On the near horizon are more tomatillos. Also, leeks and onions, will be coming in soon. Carrots have come a little late this year, but we have them now – we also have potatoes back there too, but will probably wait longer before we start to pull to make sure we have those in the fall. Traditional bell peppers are slowing a little, but sweet ethnic peppers are perking up. And lettuce is coming back in. Basil will start to slow down now. The beds we did for bunching have been gone through, so the remaining beds were sown for are “pinchers.” If you’re a pesto person now is the time to act and freeze.

Reminder: Membership payments

We’re coming into the peak of the season, but we regret that some members have not yet completed their payments to us for the vegetables we provide. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to complete your subscription fee, please do so as soon as you can.

The First Bite Is With The Eye

Your editor recently returned from a cooking course in France, where this post's title was a bit of significant wisdom about the importance of careful and creative presentation in cooking. The first day at the school, while jet lag was still intense and vivid, Chef Robert Ash made a tomato salad that is an excellent way to tear through some of the summer produce. Here's what he did, and what I did yesterday.

Take plenty of ripe tomatoes and cut them into thinnish slices -- say, a quarter inch. Lay them on a plate or tray, and salt them liberally. "Liberally" means to taste, of course, and for some people salt is a natural seasoning -- and for others, steeped in our wise culture of care around healthy food, it's kind of scary to actually USE salt on PURPOSE. Ash emphasized the value of salt used carefully in this case to aid the tomatoes in giving up their liquid and concentrating their flavor.

Over the next few hours, I poured off liquid every 15 minutes or so. Then I cut up some cherry tomatoes, more for color and contrast than any other reason. I took some of the farm's basil and shredded it with my fingers (lots of cooks feel that cutting basil with a knife damages its flavor) and scattered it on the tomatoes. I also happen to have fresh oregano on the back deck, so I put on some of that, and also snipped on some of the chives I have on the back deck as well. Don't get hung up on this; if you have the herbs, great, and if not, it's not the end of the world. The basil is the most important of all of them.

Then, I cut some mozzarella into stars with cookie cutters (my wife Carol's idea) and put the shapes on the salad. Finally I sprinkled on some olive oil and poured balsamic vinegar into a spray bottle, then sprayed a few shots over the salad. Done. Vegans will of course choose to omit the mozzarella.

Veggie Sandwich

Last recipe (this week, we hope) from Amelia Fratianni. Amelia's brought us three solid recipes this week, for which we are VERY grateful indeed. This one, for Grilled Vegetable Panini, is a hat trick, providing destinies for eggplant, zucchini and basil all. Amelia, we'll welcome more any time. And any member is always welcome to follow her example.

Beet it (sorry!)

We remain grateful to member Amelia Fratianni for her search the Web for more and better recipes. Fratianni says "I never liked beets, but this recipe changed my taste buds," and as your Editor was no fan of beets as a child, he's listening. Further, Fratianni says she "used mixed pepper, recommends "more orange" And your editor feels strongly that orange is always undersold in recipes, so he agrees taste untasted. Also, she notes she substituted blue cheese, and also "prepared as suggested and then decided to julienne the beet greens and toss with other ingredients."

Let's Not Call This Whole Thing Off

Your trepid blog editor was hard at work today on a tomato consumption strategy. Luckily, the editor recently returned from France, where he attended a weeklong cooking course (he is not making this up) where he learned on Day One a fine, although not remarkable, tomato salad.

Basically, what you need to do is take a mess of tomatoes (in France, they were called "Heart of Beef") and cut them thinnish. Layer them on a large plate, salt them, and let them sit an hour, then drain it off. Then let them sit another hour, drain it off. And another hour -- then drain it off.

Then, the editor's family required some mozzarella, which the editor is always happy to provide. Finally, a little oregano and hand-shredded basil, some chives and some balsamic vingar and olive old finished it off. Snacky, and that many fewer tomatoes in the world.

Portugese Kale Soup

Member Amelia Fratianni suggests this recipe for Portugese Kale Soup, and notes that she used beef vegetable and water instead of beef broth, and also spicy italian sausage (with the casing off) instead of chourico (which is not necessarily available in your most familiar meat aisle).

Help tomorrow? Need volunteer hands!

We will be having a Saturday work day for all of CSA members who can't do their work commitment hours on any other day of the week. The workday will be from 8 am to 5 pm. You may come in at any point during the day to work your hours. Please contact the farmer, John Mitchell, at farmer@heirloomharvestcsa.com to let me know that you will be there.

Fruiting

Fruit shares are now for sale. The price is $65. The fruit share is one half-peck bag a week for nine weeks -- starting at the end of August and going until the end of the CSA. Most weeks the share will include new and different varieties of apples, but depending on how the season has been for the grower, there may also be peaches, pears and grapes. The fruit comes from Autumn Hills Orchard in Groton.

Autumn Hills is an IPM orchard (not organic). Buying from Autumn Hills is a great way to support a local farmer and to get the freshest fruit possible (the apples are incredibly crisp!). Shares can be purchased at the CSA pickup in Westborough, or by sending a check in the mail to Heirloom Harvest, PO Box 1031, Westborough, MA 01581. The check should be made out to Heirloom Harvest.

What to expect

August is the month when we get the heaviest harvest coming off of the fields. This year you can look for a lot of peppers, eggplants and -- yes -- tomatoes, which are just now coming on line. The Cantaloupe harvest looks good too. Soon we will probably start harvesting potatoes.

Nasturtium and Potato Soup

There are non-toxic flowers, and then, there are truly edible flowers. The nasturtiums sometimes available to shareholders are the farms have a peppery crackle and a soft, toothsome texture. Member Amelia Fratianni recommends the following extraordinary exploitation of the colorful, unusual flower.

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 large sweet onion, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
25-30 nasturtium leaves, stems removed
4 cups chicken broth (or water)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 bay leaf salt and pepper to taste nasturtium blossoms for garnish

Melt the butter in a stock pot.  Add the onion and cook until soft but not browned, stirring occasionally.  Add the potatoes and nasturtium leaves and continue cooking until the leaves are wilted, about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and milk to the stock pot.  Add the bay leaf, salt and pepper, then bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer gently until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and discard.  Puree the soup in a blender until smooth.  Serve garnished with fresh nasturtium blossoms.

Makes 6 servings.