Romas are really abundant this week. Making sauce or soup? I’m your girl. Customers say this variety is really good. Who doesn’t love a Long Tom??
It’s a great week to come to the market because I’ll have some samples of different varieties. I have double the amount of tomatoes I had last week so it’s time to set out the magically delicious samples for customers that haven’t tried them yet 🙂
My tomato season is usually pretty short because it is 20 degrees hotter in the hoop house than outside and in that kind of heat stress they drop their blossoms.
It took 6 hours to pick them today. In the hoop it was about 100 degrees. These are so thin skinned and delicate, there’s no just jerking them off the vine and tossing them in boxes. Each one has to be cut from the vine with nippers and placed single layer in crates with padding.
The hoop house has even more to offer: fire ants, and the spiders, hello FACEWEB, and worms…if you’ve never had a tomato patch, you can’t begin imagine how much giant worms poop. Anyway the funny part is I tore the ass out of my pants hahahahaaaaaaa sitting on my little metal tomato cart trying to reach the low ones without kneeling in the fire ants. Maaan, it was a rough day 🙂
I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market tomorrow until 1 with:
Tomatoes – Brandywine, Giant Belgium, Azoychka Russian, Limmony, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Green Giant, Black Krim, Long Tom romas, American Original Beefsteak, Bloody Butchers and cherry tomatoes.
Cukes, sweet peppers, tomatillos, savoy cabbage, 4 kinds of potatoes, sweet potatoes, okra, red & sweet onions, a variety of eggplant, wheat.
I’ll have our 100% grass fed & grass finished, Animal Welfare Approved Angus beef in these cuts: filet, flank, skirt, flat iron, ground, stew, philly steak, cube steak, ribeyes, NY Strip, sirloin, brisket, eye of round roasts, bone-in chuck roasts, boneless chuck roasts, sirloin tip roasts, short ribs, liver, osso bucco, bags of soup bones.
We have hot dogs (skinny and quarter pounder), beer brats-these are quarter pounders, sliced corned beef, sliced pastrami and sliced bologna. Made from our 100% grass fed Angus beef, no added nitrates or nitrites.
Ground beef special – Buy 5, Get 1 free, and a special on cube steak and stew beef – 20% off.
Bulk pricing on our beef: quarters, halves and wholes – $3.50 lb hang weight plus the cost of processing.
Trickery! All you see is the bold web in the center with a monstrous spider on it – not the very fine almost invisible bigger web around it that snares the unsuspecting insects and Jill.
Oh wait! I have a recipe. It’s so good and you just throw all the stuff in the blender. Takes 5 minutes. It makes delicious gazpacho from fresh tomatoes in the summer and it makes awesome hot soup in the winter from frozen tomatoes. One quart freezer bag packed full is the right amount of tomatoes for a batch of this soup. It has so much flavor, has super healthy ingredients and I make it with only the Giant Belgiums or Brandywines for the most amazing flavor.
This is Natalia Rose’s recipe, it’s been a favorite for many years.
Into the blender:
6 cups tomatoes, halved, including skin and seeds; 1/2 to 1 c packed fresh basil; 1/4 c apple cider vinegar; 2 T olive oil; 1 t soy sauce; 1 clove garlic; 1-2 t Spike seasoning (I’ve never added this).
Blend all of that. Salt and pepper to taste. I top it with a chopped avocado, or you could use fresh corn kernels or whatever. That’s it! Then if you want it hot, obviously just pour it into a pot.
I’ll see you tomorrow! If anyone has a fantastic recipe for the most delicious tomato pie, I’d love to try it. I made one a long time ago but lost the recipe.
One last thing, I found this post from Anthony William:
“Heirloom Tomatoes are a summer’s treat that are rich in vitamins C, K, A, and B-complex, as well as potassium, chromium, biotin, and beta carotene. This amazing array of nutrition makes heirloom tomatoes excellent for helping to nourish the adrenal glands, reduce stress damage, build the immune system, lower blood pressure, protect against skin damage, improve cardiovascular health, and strengthen bones. Heirloom tomatoes are also an excellent source of lycopene, a super-antioxidant, which is known to help prevent breast, pancreatic, intestinal, bladder, cervical, colorectal, lung, skin, endometrial, and prostate cancers. Heirloom tomatoes also are known to aid in the digestion of dense proteins, assist in dissolving gallstones, and purify the blood making them highly beneficial for your digestive tract and lymphatic system. Heirloom Tomatoes are often sweet and savory and at this time of year they can be found abundantly at your local farmers markets or in your backyard/patio garden. Have fun tasting all the different varieties and enjoying each unique and delicious flavor profile.”
Shane says hello from alfalfaland.
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