Sam Writes: Homegrown Tomatoes

“Money Can’t Buy True Love and Homegrown Tomatoes” by artist Jan Yatsko

Tracking my thoughts out in the field can be a curvy, jumpy, and lengthy trail of mental activity as I pick, set down, collect, sort… sometimes I need to redirect more of that energy to focusing on the picking, sorting, etc., but constantly being around super fantastic veggies and fruits gets me thinking.

A few years ago I read an article that traced the plight of that infamous supermarket tomato. You know the one: perfectly red, quite firm, almost entirely tasteless but cheap enough to justify, and probably from Mexico. As I read, my feelings about that supermarket tomato went from reluctant satisfaction, to undirected frustration and sadness, and finally to ridiculousness, the ultimate realization that though the tomato may be in front of me, I don’t really wish it so. But I still want a tomato! I had to confront myself and ask, what’s the alternative? I came up with two options: homegrown or from a nearby farm, and you could extend “nearby” to anywhere closer than Mexico if the local season isn’t producing tomatoes and you’re fiending. That got me to pondering the difference between homegrown and local, and what we’re producing here on the farm.

Guy Clark says money can’t buy homegrown tomatoes, so in that respect we’re not growing homegrown tomatoes. However, I am positive we’re growing the next best thing, just because you have to buy them. But is an exchange of money between producer and consumer the only thing separating our tomatoes from their homegrown glory? If we ignore that money thing, we can agree that they’re picked ripe, and they look, feel, smell, and taste oh so similarly to homegrown tomatoes. So much so that you should be able to fool 999 out of 1000 people at your dinner table about the source of the tomatoes in their salad, stew, juice, eggs, gravy, or beans (pinto or navy), as long as they haven’t noticed that you don’t have any tomato plants. As for that one person you’re not fooling: it’s you.

Everyone says, “Hmm, mmmm, wwooooww, nice tomatoes, these must be homegrown!” You reply, “Must they be? What makes a tomato homegrown? Is it simply their look, feel, smell, and taste?”  And you all launch off along a trail of exploring the intangibles of homegrown tomatoes. Some points you might come across along the way: your hands are clean now (maybe), but they were such a bugger to clean after spending an hour pruning and training your tomato plants that you had remnants of that strange green gunky crust* on your fingers for the next two days; you’ve been having nightmares that you pruned off the leader on all your plants and you will be stuck with tiny plants; you haven’t slept properly since you got the blood of a few Colorado potato beetles on your hands; you’ve been sleeping much better since you decided to squish what must surely be the entire army of Colorado potato beetles, hopefully erasing their existence altogether and easing your conflicted, usually-nonviolent mind; you’re in complete awe of how many damn Colorado potato beetles there are only a few days after that massacre; there is a pile of rotting tomatoes just outside of your garden under your neighbor’s hedges. And the trail continues to reveal itself well into dessert…

The current reality has it that all of us are not going to produce all of our own food every year, which is why farms like The Sunshine Farm exist. Wherever you fit along the spectrum of not growing any food to producing most of your own food, we try to fill the gaps in your diet. Additionally, if you want to try your hands at homegrown, we provide starter plants at the beginning of the summer to ease you into the journey. That certainly doesn’t make the difference between homegrown and local any clearer, but who cares! This trail is getting long, and it’s all good food anyways, which is really all we wanted in the first place. Time to relax, contentment is already here.

*For the interested, more about that strange green gunky crust you can’t seem to completely wash off of your skin after handling your tomato plants:  http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/green-powder-on-tomato-plants

Emmer, Broccoli, and Feta Pilaf

Emmer wheat, also known as Farro in Italy, is believed to be the parent plant of all Durum wheats. Like other ancient varieties of wheat, Emmer is high in protein, fiber, and minerals. When combined with legumes it makes a complete protein. It also has a gluten structure that is different than modern wheat so people with gluten allergies can usually eat it without any problems. Emmer is available at the Sunshine Farm Market, grown by Bluebird Grain Farms in Twisp.

• 1 cup of Emmer (measure 1 cup uncooked)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3-4 Tbsp Olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves minced (substitute 6 minced green garlic if you prefer)
• 2 chopped tomatoes (this is the time to use up any cans or frozen tomatoes you have from last year’s tomatoes)
• 1 bunch broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1/2 tsp oregano, chopped
• 1 cup feta chesse
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

In small saucepan, combine emmer with water and cook. Remove from heat and set aside, covered.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring often for 30 to 60 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and cook 2 minutes.

Add broccoli and oregano; mix well. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and increase heat to medium-high cook until broccoli is just tender, uncovering and stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Stir in cooked emmer, feta and pepper. Drizzle with remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil and serve.

This is a great dish for summer potluck as you can easily through it in the fridge and eat it as a cold salad as well! 

Renae Writes: Simple Black Bean & Poached Egg Soup

With the threat of cool nights, I can officially say (for myself at least) it is crock pot season.  This cool weather has provoked three crock pot meals in the last week.  I can remember the transition of the season, the shorter days, the tree’s turning colors, was always the trigger for my mom to start Sunday soups.  She would throw a soup together mid morning let it stew all afternoon and right around sun downwe would sit around the ‘novel’ woodstove and enjoy the day’s creation.  Although 3 out of five times it was a variation of lentil soup my favorite was always any kind of black bean soup.  

This black bean soup recipe is one that I put together after traveling around Costa Rica.  It is a combination of a soup that I had with a family I stayed with and soup that I had at a small ‘Soda’ in San Isidro.  Very simple, but the key ingredients far as I am concerned is the perfectly poached egg added at the end.  Oh, and the cilantro!

Simple Black Bean & Poached Egg Soup

2 cups dried black beans
5 cups water/chicken stock
5 roma tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ sweet onion, chopped
1 pepper, diced
¼ poblano pepper, diced
1½ Tbsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
handful of cilantro, chopped
eggs
sour cream (optional)

Put the black beans and water or stock in crock pot on high for 4 hours (add more water if necessary).  Put half the beans into a blender and return to crock pot.  Add everything to the crock pot except the cilantro and egg.  Let the mixture simmer for 1.5-2 hours. 

Scoop out portion needed for your meal (this recipe is enough for 6 portions) and place in a saucepan.  Set stove top to Med/High, once there is a rolling boil crack desired amount of eggs in soup.  Carefully continue to mix so soup does not burn to the bottom of the pan but allowing the egg to cook thoroughly.  I like to add as many eggs as portions so everyone gets a poached egg in their bowl!  Top with cilantro and sour cream. 

Renae Writes: High Tunnel Tomatoes

With the fall equinox approaching the cool nights are a threat.  Well maybe I am a little premature on the thought, but we did go ahead and put the plastic endwalls back up on the high tunnel.  The high tunnel is where we planted the first of the tomatoes back at the beginning of April and yes you are still enjoying those tomatoes!  After a little adjustment with the soil and figuring out how to moderate the temperatures in the heat of the summer we had a successful year with the tomatoes.  We had tomatoes in the high tunnel at least 3 weeks before our outside tomoatoes started to turn, and now hopefully we can prolong the tomato season with the endwalls up. 

The high tunnel is a 90’ by 30’ unheated structure that’s temperature is controlled by venting (i.e. wind blowing through the tunnel) and a misting system.  It is completely enclosed in the shoulder seasons during the winter, and during the nights in the shoulder seasons.   The two long sides have vented walls that roll up and down during the day.  And in the summer the endwalls are completely removed and the sidewalls rolled all the way down to allow for maximum ventilation.

Last year was our first year growing in the high tunnel, and the summer’s heat proved to be too hot for the tomatoes, reaching into the low 100s by 10:30am.  This year, we isntalled a mister system that extends from the rafters and would be on constantly from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm throughout most of July and part of August.  The mister system kept the temperature just where we wanted it--in the low 80s, even when it was in the high 90s outside.  We worried that the added moisture might lead to fungal disease, but we never saw anything, thank goodness.  We always made sure we turned off the mister with enough time for the tomato foliage to dry before nightfall.

Even with these cool evening temperatures, the high tunnel will hopefully continue to ripen tomatoes for another month or more.  The only conflict is that we'd like to get in there to plant our winter greens!  I guess we may just have to think about putting up another high tunnel...

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Need a midsummer salad switch up?  Try a cucumber-onion-tomato salad, Israeli-style, no lettuce required!  Part of what distinguishes this salad is the small size to which you chop the vegetables.  Somehow, when they're chopped up smaller, it makes you want to take a bigger serving.

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Adapted from www.nourishedkitchen.com.

• 6 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled if the skin is bitter, seeded and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• about 1 cup fresh curly parsley, chopped fine
• juice of 1 lemon, strained
• about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  
• unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Toss the chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion and parsley together in a big mixing bowl.
2. When the the vegetables and parsley are thoroughly mixed together so as to ensure that every spoonful of salad yields a little bit of cucumber, parsley, onion and tomato, pour the juice of one lemon and 1/4 cup unrefined olive oil over the salad. Stir it again.
3. Generously season the salad with unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.