Farm News July 25, 2023
Our Farmstand is in full swing:
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday: 2 - 6:30 PM
Saturday: 8 am - 12:30 pm
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It’s late July, which means hot and sweaty weather is in full force. The heavy rains of a week ago are now distant memories and our sandy soils have dried to the point that we have started irrigating. The huge rain totals lulled us into a false sense of adequate soil moisture security. But in our sandy soils, whether we get 0.6 of an inch or 6 inches of rain in a storm doesn’t matter: 3 or 4 days of hot weather and we need to start irrigating again.
Dana took a bird’s eye view of the corn patch.
While we are still putting out weekly plantings of lettuce and salad mix, many of the fall crops are in, or soon to be in the ground. Cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collards, and leeks are looking good but won’t be on the harvest list until early fall. We’ve begun to pull in the big, sweet Ailsa Craig fresh onions which are one of my favorite treats from the farm. We’ll need to pull in the onion crop soon, to join our garlic crop to cure in a shade cloth covered greenhouse. Peppers and eggplants harvests are beginning to pick up, including some of the red and orange sweet peppers from an extra early planting we put in our high tunnel so we could start the harvest a bit earlier.
A requirement of sweet corn harvest is tasting a few ears (at least)!
One crop that loves hot weather is sweet corn and we are bringing in the first harvest this week. It’s very sweet. It’s also organic. Bugs in organically grown corn are par for the course, and we ask that you not look for perfection, but instead just cut away any munched parts on an ear and enjoy. Sometimes we can do the cutting for you, which removes just a few bites at most from each ear.
Kolade hamming it up with the corn - he’s often in a good mood and adding sweet treats doesn’t hurt!
Organic sweet corn is very labor intensive for us to grow, because without fungicide-treated seed, we need to take the extra step of sowing thousands of seedlings in the greenhouse (36,000 to be exact) before we transplant them out to the field. It requires multiple biological sprays of a soil bacterium to keep the pest damage low, as well as electric fences to discourage raccoons, bird scare balloons and noise maker contraptions to deter birds.
Corn also generates copious weeds that we pay for in increased cultivating, hoeing, and weeding in future crops for years out. All these factors mean we need to charge a lot more for our hand-picked organic corn, compared with conventional corn grown with synthetic herbicides, insecticides and picked with a machine. From what we hear you can tell the difference, and we hope you enjoy a taste this week.
We hope you enjoy the farm and the harvest,
Paul, for Rebecca and the Fort Hill Farm crew
Featured veg:
Sweet Corn: Best steamed or boiled for just a FEW minutes or soaked in water and roasted on the grill. Corn should be eaten as soon as possible or stored in the fridge (with husks on) for a few days for the best quality. There is no such thing as “too much corn,” as it is super easy to freeze. Just shuck, blanch (dunk in boiling water for a minute, then immediately dunk in cold water to cool), cut the kernels off the cob and put in a zip lock bag. Your reward will be great on some freezing night this winter!
Ailsa Craig onions: these big fresh sweet onions are great sliced thick, brushed with olive oil, and cooked on the grill; also yummy sliced thin on sandwiches and burgers, caramelized, or use in any recipe that calls for sweet onions. They store best in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or may be dried out on the counter.
Also available:
Head lettuce, salad mix, pea shoots, red and French Breakfast radishes, curly and lacinato kale, rainbow chard, scallions, parsley, basil, dill, chives, oregano, sage, thyme, garlic scapes and German Extra Hardy garlic, red, gold, and Chioggia beets, beefsteak and heirlooms, Sungold, red and artisanal (limited) cherry tomatoes, zucchini, Zephyr, and Patty Pan summer squash, slicing and Asian cucumbers, jalapeño and shishito peppers, Ailsa Craig and Red torpedo fresh onions, hints of the first eggplant and sweet peppers!
Pick Your Own:
FLOWERS:
Most of the flowers and even a few precocious dahlias are coming alive!
PERENNIAL HERBS:
chives, oregano, sage, and thyme
BEANS:
Come early in the week for the best quality pick.
Recipes
Suggested by Rebecca Batchie
For more recipes, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
Corn and Tomato Gratin
This is a fantastic oldie from our recipe database (see Recipes tab), which brings together many stars of high-summer farm produce (shared by member Fox Dixcy, from Gourmet September, 2006).
*Gratin can be assembled, but not baked, 4 hours ahead and chilled, covered. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before baking. (I’ve assembled it as much as 1 day ahead.)
1 ½ lbs. red or yellow tomatoes, (4 medium), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 cups fresh bread crumbs, preferably from a day-old baguette; an 8-inch piece, including crust
1 oz (1/2 cup) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
6 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus additional for buttering pan
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
4 cups fresh corn kernels, (from 6 ears)
1 cup whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup chopped fresh basil
Arrange tomato slices in 1 layer on a rack set in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle on both sides with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Let drain 30 minutes.
While tomatoes drain, bring corn, milk, cream, and 1/4 tsp salt to a simmer in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until corn is tender, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly, uncovered.
Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 375°. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish.
Toss together breadcrumbs, basil, cheese, and remaining 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in another bowl.
Arrange one third of tomato slices in baking dish, then cover evenly with one third of breadcrumb mixture and dot with one third of butter. Spoon half of corn mixture over crumbs, then repeat layering with half of remaining tomatoes, crumbs, and butter, and all of corn. Arrange remaining tomatoes over corn, then top with remaining breadcrumbs and dot with remaining butter.
Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and gratin is bubbling all over, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool slightly on a rack, about 15 minutes, before serving.