Farm News, July 27, 2021
After another saturating set of storms a week ago, we had hoped to settle into a weather pattern like the good old days. Some sunny days, a cloudy day, a rainy day or two, repeat. That’s an ideal we just don’t see anymore. Instead, we got virtually no irrigation-quantity rains in June, and almost 2 months of rain in an 8-day stretch in July. The tough part for me to remember is that the soils at Fort Hill Farm drain so fast, that no matter how much it rains on a given day, 4 days later we either need more rain or to begin irrigating. We got a little sloppy last week when the big rains stopped, and had to make up for some lost time over the weekend. Liv and Paul (with a little help from Luca) got some pipe all set up and had a big weekend irrigating the crops.
James picks his way through the corn, a barrel of sweet summer in tow.
Our crew is really made up of a great bunch of people. They work a physically demanding job in outdoor conditions that can vary between inspiring (planting lettuce on the first sunny day in the spring when the temps are in the low 70’s), to mundane (harvesting beets on a showery day in early October), to downright brutish (pulling garlic on a hot, muggy day in July). They enjoy producing healthy food, staying active, interacting with small farm and healthy food supporters, and managing the puzzles and challenges that vegetable farming throws at us on a daily basis. We are lucky to have them working with us.
Griffin plants some cukes in the high tunnel, which will hopefully produce into September.
Lauren is perhaps the most adoring of eggplant of all the Fort Hill crew.
On the crop report front, tomatoes are doing really well this year and we continue to have good yields of tasty, sweet fruit. We’ve had a great run of lettuce, although the head sizes can be a bit smaller this time of year and occasionally we can have some supply hiccups. Rebecca works really hard to time the seedings so we have a constant supply. If we run short on head lettuce at some point this summer, be sure to try our salad mix, with 7 varieties of lettuce selected for their crisp, fresh taste and texture. We’ve got a new patch of cukes coming in, and we might be coming out of our slow down on the summer squash front. If you don’t see our zucchini, try the yellow and green Zephyr squash, which can be used in place of zucs and taste great. Big, sweet Ailsa craig onions are ready for the grill, and we have a steady supply of our famous garlic, drying nicely in the greenhouses. We still have plenty of green and red cabbage, kale, chard, for side summer side dishes. The corn forecast is a bit better this week, and there have been some ripe cantaloupe sitings to boot. And if you are at the farm, the flowers are at peak (and on sale) for the next couple weeks.
We hope you enjoy the farm and the produce,
Paul and Rebecca for the Fort Hill Farm Crew
Sometimes, a creepy, tomato foliage-covered hand just reaches out and gives you a Striped German tomato - yes please!
Featured this week:
Tomatoes: Why feature tomatoes when we’ve been harvesting them for 10 weeks already? Because they’re finally coming in in droves! Whether from the high tunnel or the greenhouses, the key to our tomatoes’ flavor is the fact that they are soil grown. We grow two broad groups of tomatoes. The classic round, red, and fairly uniform tomatoes are our standard, tasty slicers. We also grow about 15 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, which come from around the world, and most are bred by gardeners or small growers for their great taste. While focusing on great taste, the breeders who birthed these guys into the world didn’t focus a whole lot on fruit shape or uniformity, so heirloom tomatoes tend to be lumpy, bumpy, and kind of weird looking. They can also be a challenge to grow, and tend to command higher prices. As with most things in life, looks can be deceiving, so give each one a try! Among them you will find Brandywine (large, pink), Striped German (yellow, with green tops and red bottoms), Cherokee purple (maroon with green tops when ripe) and Paul Robeson (red with black-green tops when ripe), Lemon Boy (yellow), Mortgage lifter (medium sized, pink), and some oddball trials. Savor the unique flavor of each heirloom by slicing and layering with some fresh mozzarella and drizzling with good olive oil.
Tendersweet cabbage: one heck of a flattened disc of a cabbage. The name does not lie- it's truly delicious and promises an endless supply of refreshing summer salads. It is also beautiful enough to cut in half and gift to a friend! Store up to 3 weeks in the fridge crisper.
Also available:
Salad mix, arugula, 8 kinds of head lettuce, pea shoots, fresh carrots, Rainbow carrots, French Breakfast and red radish, salad turnips, scallions, Red conehead cabbage, Tendersweet cabbage, red beets, Chioggia beets, limited gold beets, curly and lacinato kale, rainbow chard, fresh garlic, basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, chives, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, radicchio, Red Torpedo and Ailsa Craig fresh onions, garlic, Heirloom and beefsteak tomatoes, Sungold and red cherry tomatoes, slicing cucumbers, Asian cucumbers, summer squash, sweet corn, green bell peppers, and the first eggplant and hot peppers
Coming Soon:
cantaloupe
Pick Your Own:
Flowers: * please get a flower ring from the barn for bouquet size. A SALE on flowers starts now!
The blossoms are in full swing now! Please be sure to leave behind the buds below that are on their way.
Perennial Herbs: * please get an herb ring from the barn for bunch size.
Chives, Oregano, Thyme, and Sage
Green and Yellow Wax Beans:
Wax beans are in and a young bed of green beans are just coming in!
PYO Hours: 1:30 - 7PM. (PYO begins 30 minutes before and goes 30 minutes beyond barn hours.)
Recipes
Suggested by Rebecca Batchie
For more recipes, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
Na'ama's Fattoush
By Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
A nice alternative to the usual Panzanella that I make … but if you are in that mood, check out our recipe database for a more traditional recipe!
INGREDIENTS
scant 1 cup / 200 g Greek yogurt and 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp / 200 ml whole milk, or 1 2/3 cups / 400 ml buttermilk (replacing both yogurt and milk)
2 large stale Turkish flatbread or naan (9 oz /250 g in total)
3 large tomatoes (13 oz / 380 g in total), cut into 2/3-inch / 1.5cm dice
3 1/2 oz / 100 g radishes, thinly sliced
3 Lebanese or one Asian cucumber (9 oz / 250 g in total), peeled and chopped into 2/3-inch / 1.5cm dice
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 oz / 15 g fresh mint
scant 1 oz / 25 g flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp dried mint
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup / 60 ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
2 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sumac or more to taste, to garnish
PREPARATION
If using yogurt and milk, start at least 3 hours and up to a day in advance by placing both in a bowl. Whisk well and leave in a cool place or in the fridge until bubbles form on the surface. What you get is a kind of homemade buttermilk, but less sour.
Tear the bread into bite-size pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add your fermented yogurt mixture or commercial buttermilk, followed by the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and leave for 10 minutes for all the flavors to combine.
Spoon the fattoush into serving bowls, drizzle with some olive oil, and garnish generously with sumac.
Grilled Cabbage
Adapted from TasteofHome
For those of us who swoon for roasted cabbage but can’t bear to turn on the oven, enter cabbage on the grill, where we can achieve the same caramelization that makes the taste buds sing.
Ingredients:
1 medium head cabbage (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1/3 cup olive oil, or butter, softened
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
Cut cabbage into 8 wedges; place on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 24x12 in.). Rub cut sides with raw garlic and spread cut sides with olive oil or butter. Sprinkle with onion and pepper.
Fold foil around cabbage and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over medium heat until tender, about 20 minutes. Open foil carefully to allow steam to escape.