Green Tomato Pie

In many American homes a green tomato pie heralds the beginning of fall.  Made with the fruits that were saved from the first frost, it is a delightful dessert.

4 or 5 really green tomatoes (2 ½ cups coarsely grated)

Unbaked pastry for 9-inch 2-crust pie

1 ¼ pounds green tomatoes (about 5)

½ cup golden raisins

1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon rind

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup minced candied ginger

1 tablespoon fine bread crumbs

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 425

Wash tomatoes, cut in quarters and slice very thin.  Put into a 3-quart bowl; stir in raisins, lemon rind, lemon juice, vinegar, ginger, and salt.

Blend sugar with flour and spices.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over an unbaked pastry-lined pie pan.  Then sprinkle the breadcrumbs with 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture. 

Stir the remaining sugar mixture into the tomato mixture.

Turn tomato mixture onto the breadcrumbs in pie pan, spreading evenly.

Dot evenly with the butter.

Moisten rim of pastry and lay on the top crust.   Press gently all around to seal.  Trim and crimp the edges.  Make a few slits in the top crust to release the steam as it bakes. 

Bake for 15 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 325 F and bake 50 minutes longer.  Cool on wire rack 2 to 3 hours before serving.

Stoplight Salad

2 Cups Tomatoes, chopped and drained
2 Cups Corn or yellow squash, diced
1 Medium Green Pepper, diced
1 Medium Red (Sweet) Pepper, diced
¼ Cup Fresh Cilantro, Parsley, or Basil, chopped
2 Cups Cooked Black Beans (optional)
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar or Lime Juice
1 Clove Garlic, minced
Combine tomatoes, corn, peppers, herb choice, and black beans in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar or lime juice, and garlic. Pour over salad. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently and serve. Makes 6-8 cups.

From - Simply in Season

Crustless Zucchini Tomato Quiche

2 Cups Zucchini, chopped

1 Cup Tomatoes, chopped

½ Cup Onion, chopped

1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 ½ Cups Milk

¾ Cup Baking Mix (such as Bisquick)

½ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Pepper

3 Eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and cheese in a greased 10-inch pie pan or casserole dish.

3. Beat milk, baking mix, salt, pepper, and eggs in blender until smooth, 15 seconds or more. Pour over the vegetables.

4. Bake until knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let stand a few minutes to cool before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Source: Simply in Season.

Garden Fresh Pasta Sauce

2 Cans Diced Tomatoes or Tomato Puree, drained
1 medium Zucchini, diced
½ Pint Sun Gold or other Cherry Tomatoes, whole
4 Green Onions, diced
4 Cloves Garlic, sliced (you can dice if you prefer smaller pieces)
~15 Leaves Basil, cut into shreds
Grated Parmesan Cheese, to taste
Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
1 lb Grass Finished Beef (optional)


Place all ingredient, except beef, in a pot and heat on medium high, stirring often, until it comes to a low boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cover to let ingredients steep together. Meanwhile, fry beef in skillet; drain and add to sauce. Simmer as long as possible to allow flavors to mix even more. Serve over your favorite pasta noodles. Serves 4-6.

Bruschetta with Grilled Bread

1 loaf French bread (sliced)
Grill slices lightly on both sides, or broil in oven on baking sheet

2 yellow tomatoes (diced)
2 red tomatoes (diced)
½ cup mozzarella cheese, diced
½ cup green olives, chopped
½ cup olive oil
½ cup basil, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon peel, grated
1 tablespoon capers
6 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine and spoon over grilled bread.

From: Simply in Season

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.

August flavors

Heirloom tomatoes are here!  This is a hefty Gold Medal, a juicy sweet bicolor tomato, and one of our favs.

Know what this is?  It's corn smut, a fungus growing on one of our ears.  Weird, and it makes me gag to look at it (though it is a delicacy in Latin cooking)!

Beastly looking, heavenly tasting.

Suzy, our faithful pickup friend, sets out the delicious goods (and tries not to eat them all herself).

 

 

 

 

Put your faith in the two inches of humus/ that will build under the trees/ every thousand years

Thanks to Gretchen Fairley's Criminal Justice class from Gannon for coming out last week to volunteer!  25 volunteers toured the farm, weeded 400' of garlic, cleared brush from some of last year's raised beds, made paper pots and potted tomatoes, and turned our compost pile.  Thank you for your help!

Tomatoes ready to be potted up.   

                         Other farm updates:

Planted beets this week - can't wait to eat those. 

Got the row cover out over the whole spring section of the farm for a few frosty nights last week.  We're now past the 50% frost date, meaning that there's a 50% chance that there won't be another frost. We still have to be prepared just in case for about another month.  Also we mixed our own complete organic fertilizer from a recipe in Gardening When it Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon.  We will compare this mix to organic fertlizer that come pre-mixed and bagged in both performance and cost.

Spring blooms

Scarlet Queen salad turnips - note the red stems. : )

Less that one month until pickup!  Map and directions to follow soon.

Title quote taken from Wendell Berry - The Mad Farmer Liberation Front