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.