Category Archives: putting by

CSA, farms, locavore, organic, putting by

Late Bloomers Farm Sport Hill Farm 2011 CSA – Week 11

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Time is flying by, it seems. Happily, I’ve been getting some things put by for the Dark Days. Meanwhile, here’s the bounty from the here and now, week 11 of my Sport Hill Farm CSA:

Looks a little like Christmas.

  • 1 dozen ears of corn on the cob (More niblets for the Dark Days. Although I blanch it first,  I hear you can freeze it raw—on or off the cob.)
  • 1 brown paper bag of red tomatoes (I’ve been making lots of simple tomato salads: sliced with some basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and sprinkle of salt. Refreshing and delicious.)
  • 1 bag of cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 3 peppers, Bianca bells, I believe
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 bunch of collard greens (I don’t have any experience with collards to speak of and I’m thinking about using Paula Dean’s recipe.)
Connecticut, CSA, farms, locavore, organic, putting by

Sport Hill Farm 2011 CSA – Week 10

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Here’s the bounty from week 10 of my Sport Hill Farm CSA:

  • 1 dozen ears of corn
  • 1 bag of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 head of cabbage
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 4 red tomatoes
  • 2 yellow tomatoes
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 bag of onions and garlic
  • 4 squash

From the outset, I put by 10 ears of corn for the winter in my very own Sport Hill/Late Bloomers niblets. There is nothing on Earth like having sweet corn in the  middle of January (with a few feet of snow outside) to improve your mood. If everyone put up some sweet corn, we could wipe out Seasonal Affective Disorder in our lifetime.

Astute observers will notice two heads of cabbage in the picture when the CSA share of the week listed one head. That’s because the eater and the farmer are truly partners. My first attempt at fermenting cabbage into sauerkraut didn’t work out. With me having a few new ideas to try out, my farmer stepped in as my full partner in this experiment and invested a head of cabbage into the second trial. Like the CSA, if it works out, she gets half of the sauerkraut. If it fails, we both get nothing (except experiential education).

farms, locavore, putting by

Looks like tomatoes

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This year’s tomato harvest has been fabulous. As you may recall, last year wasn’t so good. So this year, I overcompensated. I got tomatoes from Holbrook Farm, Cherry Grove Farm in Newtown, Daffodil Hill Growers, and Sport Hill Farm.

I need lots of tomatoes to put by for Italian Sunday red gravy (gravy, not sauce!) and plum tomatoes (Romas and  San Marzanos) are the best for that. A friend told me about another variety called Pompeii, but to get those, you have to grow your own like he does.

For the last few years, I’ve been processing tomatoes by blanching them to remove the skins and (sometimes) running them through a food mill to remove the seeds. Sherri Brooks Vinton and my Pompeii-growing-friend both recommend roasting the tomatoes, so I thought this year I’d give roasting a try.

Here’s how I did it:

  1. Wash off the tomatoes.
    2. sport_hill_tomatoes
    25 pounds of Sport Hill tomatoes
  2. Slice off the end.

  3. Slice the tomato in half.

    4. Tomatoes on the half shell

  4. With two fingers, swipe out the seeds and pulp.

  5. Toss the tomatoes in a bowl with some olive oil.

  6. Lay the tomatoes out on a baking sheet. Use parchment paper for an easier clean-up.

  7. Roast the tomatoes until the skins are crispy and peel off easily.

  8. Peel the tomatoes and preserve by canning or freezing.

Twenty-five pounds of tomatoes yields between six to 12 cups of processed tomatoes, which needs to be further reduced to make a good thick gravy. You just can’t get enough tomatoes!

About the title of this post

Way back in the dark ages, my high school pals and I used to enjoy tinkering with song lyrics. Here’s the song. You can sing the title of this post instead of the original lyrics.  If you want this song repeating in an endless loop in your head for the duration, listen before you seed your first tomato.