Farm News, August 3, 2021
It’s full-on harvest time at Fort Hill Farm! Tomatoes are coming in like crazy, along with tender sweet corn, loads of lettuce, big truckloads of cabbage, and plenty of arugula, kale, and chard to keep you going strong. Harvest is taking most of the crew’s time these days, and it’s an organizational dance to keep 14 people moving in the right direction. We try to get the heat-sensitive lettuce, salad mix, and arugula in before mid-morning when they are crisp and cool and try to get to the high tunnels to get the tomatoes picked before it gets too hot to keep the crew crisp and cool. Beets and carrots have to be pulled, and we leave the heat tolerant cukes, summer squash, peppers, and eggplants for the afternoon hours.
Dana determines that the Ailsa Craig onions are ready to bulk.
This week’s bulk harvest project is to bring in the onions. Last week we pulled in a nice haul of fat Ailsa Craigs that are drying in the shade cloth covered greenhouse. We should have them available for another month or so, but they are an ephemeral treat, so make sure to fire up the grill and throw some on. We’re set to pull up our storage onions and shallots this week. For reasons that I have unsuccessfully pondered for two decades now, we have a hard time sizing up storage onions here at the farm, but we like the challenge, so we keep trying. They’ll be dried and at the stands in a month or so.
The scallion gang: Dana, Griffin, and Andy
It’s been a fight to do much else beyond harvesting. We’ve been short staffed for the entire season now, which puts a lot of pressure on us to keep up with other tasks. Brief showers that only yield a quarter inch of rain aren’t much help in terms of irrigation, so there’s plenty of pipe and big guns to move, and drip tape to run. Tomato vines droop down at us waiting for us to tie them back into place. And of course, the weeds sit there laughing at us as we try to get weeding crews out to the carrots and the new blueberry planting we put in this spring.
Even though we’ve turned the page on July, we are nowhere near done planting. We’ve got fall plantings of broccoli, fennel, escarole, kale, spinach, lettuce, and salad mix going in this week. We’re counting down the last of the beds to prep and hope to have the bulk of the planting done in the next week or so, because we’ll start digging potatoes next week, and have a whole new crop to harvest.
On the corn front, we’ve been happy with the sweet corn’s flavor after that first pick! We just have to contend with the birds that want some too.
We hope you enjoy the farm and the produce,
Paul and Rebecca for the Fort Hill Farm Crew
The eggplant harvests are getting bigger now. There are so many varieties to choose from!
Featured this week:
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes: after what seemed like slower than usual peaking, the Sungolds are in full swing – and we put them ON SALE starting last week to celebrate! At this rate, we hope to be able to open the Sungolds up to PYO soon. Sungolds are always a favorite, and it’s been hard to get enough of these saffron-colored rubies to everyone who wants them. Enjoy the sweet taste of summer while it lasts!
Red Cabbage: Probably the most beautiful heads of red cabbage we have ever grown, owing in part to the mysterious magic occurring in Section 3 this year. Red cabbage is one of the go-to color accents for normally green-dominated salads, but it is tasty on its own too! Try the recipe below, or shred it with green frilly kale, onions, and lemon juice for a very tasty and nutritious hearty salad. Will store for MONTHS in the back of your fridge, just waiting for you to appreciate its crisp sweetness, lovely red color, and its power pack of antioxidants and vitamins.
Also available:
Salad mix, arugula, 8 kinds of head lettuce, pea shoots, fresh carrots, Rainbow carrots, French Breakfast and red radish, limited salad turnips, scallions, Red cabbage, Tendersweet cabbage, red beets, Chioggia beets, limited gold beets, curly and lacinato kale, rainbow chard, garlic, parsley, cilantro, dill, chives, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, radicchio, Red Torpedo and Ailsa Craig 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:
Red gold potatoes, eggplant in earnest!
Pick Your Own:
Sunflowers: So many varieties! small and large blossomed, single and double, maroon and yellow, green and brown centered …
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 loaded. Come early in the week for green beans.
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
Grilled Bread with Ricotta and Tomatoes
By Mona Talbott from BonAppetit
This makes delicious summer eating very easy. Use very ripe—even overripe—tomatoes; they’ll give up even more juice.
Ingredients
1 garlic clove
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
¾ pound assorted small tomatoes (such as cherry, Sun Gold, or green), halved, quartered if large
Freshly ground black pepper
8 slices ¾”-thick country-style bread
1 cup (loosely packed) coarsely chopped mixed tender herbs (such as basil, parsley, small dill sprigs, and/or chives)
10 oz. whole-milk ricotta
Preparation
Step 1
Finely chop garlic, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, then mash with the side of knife to a fine paste. Transfer to a medium bowl and whisk in vinegar and 2 Tbsp. oil. Add tomatoes; season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Let sit, tossing occasionally, at least 15 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, prepare grill for medium-high heat. Brush both sides of bread with remaining 4 Tbsp. oil and grill until lightly charred, about 2 minutes per side.
Step 3
Just before serving, toss herbs with tomato mixture. Spread ricotta on toast and top with tomato mixture; cut toast in half. Yields 8 servings.
DO AHEAD: Tomato mixture (without herbs) can be made 12 hours ahead. Cover and chill.
Quick-Braised Red Cabbage and Apple
From Ian Knauer via Gourmet
INGREDIENTS
1 garlic clove, smashed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 lb red cabbage, cored and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 Gala or Fuji apple, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup unfiltered apple cider
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 whole allspice (optional), crushed
1 1/2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
PREPARATION
Cook garlic in butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, 1 minute. Add cabbage, apple, cider, caraway, allspice (if using), 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender, 15 to 18 minutes.
Add vinegar and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Yields 4 – 6 side servings.