Green tomatoes and rainy markets

We really appreciate everyone coming out for the past two Tuesday Downtown Markets. The past two weeks have not only been cold, but accompanied with heavy rains. Once wet and chilled, there is no getting warm during the market. This past week I wished I had remembered my long underwear, but I will never forget them from now on.
The only thing keeping a smile on my face was seeing everyone brave the rains to get their weekly produce-thank you thank you thank you. You make it all worth it.
This Tuesday will be our last Downtown Market for the year. I am so sad the season is over, especially since we still have beautiful greens and root crops taking in the sun on this beautiful afternoon. However, we will be at the Cazenovia Farmers Market until November, so you can still come visit us and pick up your food.
This week we will be bringing green tomatoes for my favorite fall snack: Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches. Serve it with a little Dijon mustard and crisp bacon.

We will be missing this Saturday Cazenovia Market (10/9). Our dear friends are getting married and we will be there to celebrate with them. It's a happy day!

Winter Squash comes early to Central NY

As with many crops this season, winter squash made an early appearance on harvest schedules of most central NY farms. Local orchards were bringing a bounty of apples to market 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule and the pumpkins and winter squash have been ready for harvest since August. Harvesting squash on a hot August day is not what most people have in mind as a fun day on the farm, so many have waited until September. Waiting too long once the vines have dies back, though, puts the squash at risk of sun damage that can compromise the storage life of the squash.
This year we grew 3 varieties of squash: Delicata, Acorn, and baby Pie Pumpkin. Come out to one of our markets and take home some squash to roast for a hearty, fall evening's dinner.

Delicata Squash with it's tender skin and a sweet, nutty flesh is great 

baked and eaten (skin and all) with a little butter.

Acorn squash with it's characteristic orange mark on the underside of the squash. 

The small size make them great for stuffing.

Sugar Pie pumpkins are a hit with kids for carving and decorating. But they are also excellent for making creamy soup, served right into the hollowed out pumpkin for a festive dinner.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe (simplyrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin
• 5 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Method

1 Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.
2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
4 With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste.

To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh.

Salad for dinner

After a few weeks of not having salad greens, they are back! It was so sad to see many of you coming to the market stand with hope in your eyes, asking: "salad"? While nothing compares to fresh field greens, many of you have tried a nice alternative using swiss chard or the beets and beet greens. For those that didn't get it, here is a link to the beet and peach salad recipe I had at market last week: Beat, Peach, and Goat Cheese Salad

While I am happy to be able to offer the salad greens again, it makes me think about all the disappointing weeks without it as well as other crops that I had expected to offer but failed to due to pest/disease pressure, uncharacteristic weather, failed germination, or farmer error. I do not like disappointing any of my market customers, but this is why I have decided to do the farmers market rather than rush into a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I need to work out the kinks in the plan, and most importantly learn how to arrange for a Plan B, when the unexpected, inevitably, happens.

I feel confident in my summer offerings, and as they wane I am excited for market customers to taste the bounty of the Fall harvest. Hopefully I will have something you have never tried before to keep your Fall cooking just as exciting as your Summer was.

Turning water green

Working with tomatoes, either pruning, trellising, or harvesting, will turn hands a dark black color from the plants. And once washed, the soap and water turn a bright green color. That's what happened to me after a great, long tomato harvest this afternoon. I'm not sure how many (thousands!!) of pounds I picked today. But, I love washing all the dense, green powder off my hands and arms knowing there will be loads of delicious heirloom tomatoes at market tomorrow. 

 

The above picture is of the Prudens Purple tomato. Accompanying them at market will be Striped German (an orange and yellow tomato that has the most superior taste) and sweet, sweet Sungold cherry tomatoes.


All the picking and green powder is worth it when we finally sit down to a comforting dinner of our own tomato soup.

New Market

We had a change in plans for our summer farmers markets. We are no longer attending the Westcott Community Market, and are sad to say goodbye to that community. We decided we needed a weekend market to allow more time between harvests, and have joined the Cazenovia Farmers Market on Saturdays. It's held right in the town center on Albany Street from 9am-4pm. The above is a picture of our first week there. We have had two markets now and are getting to know some very nice people and hardworking farmers. There is no bigger compliment than to have people come back to purchase produce week after week.

We are greatly enjoying the downtown Syracuse farmers market and feel like our little farm has found a permanent home there. We have many customers that have become more like friends; smiling when they come to the stand, telling us about the delicious foods they made that week and even sharing the recipes with us. While a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is in our near future, we will hope to keep this market.

Stop by and see us there. The heirloom tomatoes are starting!!

Changing Landscapes

It is amazing how the farm is changing so quickly now: new crops ripening and ready for harvest while older plantings are finishing up and being pulled out to make room for new plantings.With all the changes, it's impossible to just sit back and marvel in the beauty of what is growing. I am always looking on to the next thing. It's Summer but my mind is on cooler weather while I plan for Fall harvest and winter cover crops.

But, I am drawn back into the present by the pace of life on the farm right now.We are well into our summer harvesting: lemon and pickling cucumbers, patty pan summer squash, zinnias and sunflowers! And our heirloom tomato plants have beautiful green fruit on them.

Heat loving spinach for, hopefully, an August harvest

Tomotillos filling out their husks. I'll have plenty of recipes available to use up these deliciously, sweet green tomatoes. 

Acorn Winter Squash

Teddy Bear Sunflowers

Last week in pictures

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Thanks to my family that spent one of their vacation days to help out on the farm. We got so much done!