Week 12 Newsletter 2018

Hello Everyone,

It is remarkable how plants react to a few rainy days. Even with the days getting shorter it seems like many plants doubled in size in just a few hours. I hope everyone is getting a chance to enjoy the vibrant colors that are marching along after the rainy days.

You will be receiving a couple of melons in your bins this week. It has been a great year for melons. I intentionally grow ice box size watermelons so they will fit in the bins, this week you may receive a red or a yellow watermelon. The cantaloupe variety is Sarah's Choice and I grow these for their sweet flavor and solid texture.

This week the farm crew has been putting fishline around the Honeycrisp apple trees.  The clever crows have discovered this variety of apple and the fishline encourages them to move along. The large cooler has been completely emptied of cherries, cleaned from top to bottom in preparation of the "next big thing" ... apple season!


 
What to expect to find in your bin this week:

Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Nectarines
Peppers
Carrots
Lettuce
Arugula or Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Garlic


...and in the buckets:

Watermelon
Lettuce
Peppers
Tomatoes
Carrots

Here are couple of my favorite tomato recipes.

Salsa Fresca

MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

YIELD
 2 cups

TIME
 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

¼ small white or red onion, minced

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 pound fresh, ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

1 to 3 jalapeño or serrano chiles, to taste, minced (and seeded, if you would like a milder salsa)

4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, more to taste

1 to 3 teaspoons fresh lime juice (optional)

Salt to taste

PREPARATION

Place minced onion in a bowl and cover with cold water. Add vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes or longer. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients and stir in onions. (If your tomatoes are full of flavor, you won’t need lime juice.) Ideally, let stand at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before eating so that flavors will blend and ripen.

Garlicky Tomato Toast (Pan Con Tomate)

DAVID TANIS
YIELD 4 to 6 servings
TIME 30 minutes 


INGREDIENTS

3 or 4  very ripe medium tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1  pint cherry tomatoes (about 12 ounces)
4 to 6  large slices sturdy sourdough bread, about 1/2-inch thick
4 to 6  garlic cloves, peeled
 Salt and pepper
 Extra-virgin olive oil
 Basil leaves, for garnish (optional)

PREPARATION

Cut 2 tomatoes in half crosswise. Place a box grater in a shallow bowl and grate the tomato flesh from the cut sides, pushing through the large holes. You should have 1 cup or so of coarse tomato purée. Set purée aside, and discard tomato skins.
Cut remaining large tomatoes into 1/4-inch slices. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Set aside.
Toast the bread until nicely browned and crisp. (Toasting over a charcoal grill yields a rich, smoky flavor, but a toaster, toaster oven or broiler works just as well.)
With your fingers, rub the top of each toast with a garlic clove. You will see the cloves get smaller as the garlic is dispersed, pushed into the bread. (For a less garlicky toast, press lightly when rubbing.)
Place toasts on a platter or individual plates. Spoon and spread a heaping tablespoon of tomato purée over each toast. Then arrange tomato slices and cherry tomatoes randomly on top.
Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil per toast. Garnish with whole or torn basil leaves, if using.

Tip
If you don’t want to bother with grating tomatoes, rub the toasted bread first with garlic, then with 1 or 2 halved tomatoes, until top surface is quite juicy, then continue with Step 6.