Week of August 16

Ripe on the Farm this Week:


Lettuce -Basil- Green Beans

Green Peppers - Summer Squash

Cucumbers - Garlic -Kohlrabi

Heirloom Tomatoes - Greens


Notes from the Field:

We’re looking to the horizon hoping for some rain clouds this week – the hot sunny weather has left us ready for rain. BUT the tomatoes have been loving the heat, ripening beautifully on the vine! Our corn is close to ripe, so look for that in the upcoming weeks. Also everyone gets garlic starting this week. We cured the garlic for two weeks before storing it, and now it should have a shelf life of at least several months. Enjoy the tastes of August!

Heirloom Tomatoes!


An heirloom is an open-pollinated variety of tomato, meaning that the seed can be saved each year to result in the same tomato variety the following year. Most heirlooms are at least 50 years old, and often have a history or ethnic ties to how the variety was introduced. Heirloom varieties can take on interesting shapes, and come in a rainbow of colors. Don’t let this intimidate you, as the flavors simply blow grocery store tomatoes out of the water! Here are a few of the varieties that we are growing

Cherokee Purple - The Cherokee Purple was rediscovered by tomato grower Craig LeHoullier. LeHoullier claimed that it was more than 100 years old, and originated with the Cherokee people. The Cherokee Purple tomato has a unique dusty rose color. The flavor of the tomato is extremely sweet with a rich smoky taste.

Gold Medal: Listed in Ben Quisenberry’s 1976 seed list as, “Large, yellow, streaked red; firm and smooth. Very little acid. The sweetest tomato you ever tasted.....a gourmet’s joy when sliced.” A bi-colored tomato and winner of the Seed Saver’s Exchange 2008 tomato tasting.

Paul Robeson - 7-10 oz. fruit are a black-brick color. Named in honor of the famous opera singer star of ‘King Solomon’s Mines’, 1937. Paul Robeson was also a Russian and Equal Rights Advocate for Blacks. This Russian heirloom was lovingly named in his honor.

Other varieties you may get this week: Sun Gold (cherry), Black Cherry (cherry), Matt’s Wild (cherry), Glacier.