Week 13: Tomato Fever

Tomatoes heading into the barn by the cartful!

Hi all, Alli here.

We hope you all enjoyed that massive haul from last week. And get ready, because this week you’re getting another weighty share (with another ~9 lbs of tomatoes, and another quart of cherry tomatoes!). If you didn’t get around to making any sauce or salsa last week, now is the time. Tomatoes freeze really well, too, so check out some info on that in case you are having trouble getting through all of them. For us, weeks like this are what a CSA is all about. As our members, you are there to support us early in the season and you stick with us when troubles arise (like when we were dealing with serious groundhog damage last year!). But it makes us so happy when we are able to return the favor and share the good times and great harvests with you!

Because all of the best stuff goes to you, we often eat the weird, unmarketable veggies or leftovers. That includes split tomatoes, which have been plentiful due to the big rains we’ve been getting here and there…so we’ve been keeping busy putting up sauce of our own for the winter! Here, we’re draining potfuls of pressure cooked tomatoes before we run them through a food mill and freeze the sauce it produces.

August has been a crazy month, as it always it. We’re always trying to keep on top of our weeding and fall planting while also spending sooo much of our time harvesting. And the days just keep getting shorter! Luckily, we’ve had some great help around the farm this month. One of our Gardiner CSA members (and also a farmer!) has been tackling tons of weeds and even doing some of the final tomato trellising of the season. Also, a friend of mine from the city who helped out a lot last summer just came up for the weekend and helped make quick work of a post-market rush to seed and transplant more fall crops before Sunday’s rain. Farming can be so overwhelming and stressful at times, but it’s always more fun and so much easier with more people around!

Joe spent Saturday clearing out old plants and weeds from several of our beds to get them ready for the evening planting rush! It felt more like a party and less like work to have everyone out in the field transplanting during this gorgeous sunset over one of our fields.

Here’s what we think you can expect in your share this week:

Tomatoes (obviously)

Cherry Tomatoes

Choice of: Tomatillos, more Cherry Tomatoes, or Shishito Peppers**

Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers, and Eggplant

Onions

Garlic

Okra

Kale

Lettuce Mix

Arugula

Beets

Carrots

Squash

Cucumbers (you’ll notice the squash and cucumbers are slowing down, but we’ve been really happy with the overlap in cucumber and tomato harvests we’ve had this year…which is great, because they are such a good combination!)

**As usual, please leave behind the pint box or return old ones you’ve been holding onto…we’d be happy to reuse clean boxes!

Members come with a huge assortment of ways to transport their veggies: laundry baskets, reusable bags, and even this stylish market basket that really makes the veggies shine!

Now that the peppers are full of color, it’s a great time to roast them.

Roasted Peppers

Simple and refreshing, pico de gallo is another great use for all those tomatoes (and would be soooo tasty and beautiful if you used cherry tomatoes, too!).

Pico de gallo

Eggplant, arugula, AND tomatoes?! Perfect.

Eggplant, Arugula, and Tomato Salad

Enjoy the week everyone! Happy eating (and tomato-ing!).