Today, Hilda Staples and I planned to meet up at House in the Woods Farm to buy certified organic tomato plants from my friends Ilene and Phil Freedman. Ilene was having a presale of tomato plants for old customers, and I COULD NOT WAIT to pick mine out. I have bought tomato plants from Ilene for years now; the only exception was last year when I decided to grow them from seed. The first picture is of two of Ilene and Phil's CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) customers browsing the tomato plants.
The next picture is Ilene, holding a perpetual spinach plant. Ilene told me this is actually a kind of chard that does not bolt* in the summer; of course I had to try it (*bolting is when a plant develops its flower parts and neglects its leaves; this can happen very quickly if the weather gets hot. It's not desirable for plants like spinach because not only do you get less leaves, they taste bitter).
This year I wanted to grow tomatoes from seed again; I carefully picked the seeds I wanted from the catalogs and ordered them with Yeon, but I never got my act together to plant them. Luckily, Ilene had everything I wanted, including the Speckled Roma tomato plant that I bought a fruit of from Rick Hood at the Farmer's Market last summer; the most gorgeous and delicious Roma tomato I have ever beheld.
My other favorite tomato varieties are pineapple and green zebra. Most people love the sungold cherry, a prolific, sweet producer of tiny round fruits. Today I also picked up a Valencia, black krim, and a Belgian tomato that promises to have fruits up to five pounds. Ilene told me that at retail prices of $4 per pound tomatoes, one of those tomatoes would go for $20. I don't know if anyone would pay that but maybe they would. But a five pound tomato? How could I resist the temptation to buy a plant and try to grow one?
The hoop house with all of the tomato plants also held lots of other seedlings for the farm. I also picked up five pepper plants, one of each kind that they had. Ilene advised me to grow the jalapeno away from everything else, so it will go in the raised bed with the runaway asparagus fern, strawberry plants, and various herbs.
Ilene and Phil also sell heirloom tomatoes to the Common Market. Ilene said that with their 15%, the Common Market would be selling all local tomatoes this summer. The Common Market is one of the places I would love to interview about their commitment to local produce. I could go on about them but I will save that for a later post.
I was happy when Hilda and John showed up; John hung out in the barn with Phil and a bunch of happy kids. The silhouette is of Phil in the barn with the new hoop house behind him.
Hilda talked shop with Ilene about the various plants she was growing and the pros and cons of the different tomato varieties.
There was plenty to discuss. I was excited to introduce a friend in the restaurant business to a friend in the farm business, and was pleased to see them chatting with each other. I have the soul of a matchmaker.
For more information about the tomato sale at House in the Woods Farm, visit here. I also discovered Ilene's blog this morning and posted it in our blog links, but it is also here. The image of the tomatoes on the table is Ilene's from her Tomato Festival, which she is thinking about doing again this year.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tomato plants from House in the Woods
Monday, July 7, 2008
Blueberry Picking at Glade-Link Farms: Legendary!
Yeon and I went to Glade-Link Farms this weekend to pick blueberries. The picture below shows row upon row of blueberry bushes. The weather was overcast and a little dreary (it rained as we were leaving) but somehow this seemed like perfect berry picking weather. We weighed our containers and then went into the fields to pick. The ecological restoration and monarch butterfly people in the crowd will be happy to learn that the blueberry fields are chock-full of milkweed. I meant to ask why, but I forgot. Some other pickers told me it was for pollenation of the blueberry plants.
The blueberries this year are amazing- prolific, huge, and delicious. Some of the blueberries we picked were an inch in diameter. It's amazing how many blueberries were on each branch. They were stuffed with them. And speaking of being stuffed, I looked over at Yeon several times and saw her munching away. Yeon has conveniently eliminated all of the pictures of herself so you can't see it. but you can imagine it. We probably picked for 15 minutes and filled up most of our containers. 
I filled up a quart container and paid $5.03. All of my berries came from a single bush. It was awesome. The nice ladies below gave us permission to take their pictures at the weigh-in. I told them we were going to post them on our blog. Pay attention to the lady on the right because you are about to see the back of her car.
This is what $106 worth of blueberries looks like. Enough to fill up the trunk of a car. Notice the banana. This woman and her family love fruit. I asked them what they were going to do with all the blueberries and they said, "Freeze them." Blueberries do freeze well. They are also great in smoothies- put frozen berries into a blender with yogurt, a banana and a little soy milk. Blend. Sweeten to taste. 
Moving on from the Blueberrymobile, we have some more happy customers. Glade-Link also sells sunflowers at the register. The three rectangular bins are Yeon's, and there is a round one behind it that is mine. Yeon's afraid she did not get enough blueberries. Me too! I gave some of mine to my friend Amy, used some to make a blueberry sauce (1/2 c water, 4 c blueberries, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 tsp orange zest cooked at medium heat until berries are cooked into a chunky sauce) and hardly have any left for eating!
Why not head on over to the blueberry fields for some fun picking? And remember not to wear anything that you will mind staining blue. Like my tan pants.
Shannon
