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Goldfinch Farm CSA
Goldfinch Farm Newsletters
| For Beth's Ramblings and Rants click here. |
Issue No. 5: 27 July 2010
GOLDFINCH FARM CSA NEWS
Farmers: Jon & Beth Weaver-Kreider * 252-3894
www.goldfinchfarm.com * weaverkreider@comcast.net
CSA Pick-up Hours: Goldfinch Farm Tues & Fri 2-7, Sat 9-12
Lancaster Friends Meeting Tues 3:00-6:00
East Chestnut St. Menno Fri 3:00-6:00
Salsa Season
Here they are! Introducing Goldie and Rose, Moreton, Copia, and Gypsy, along with Lemon Boy, Brandy Boy, and Golden Girl. Here's the
Black Sea Man and Cosmonaut Volkov, Japanese Trifela, Howard German, Rose de Berne, Speckled Roman, Moldovan Green and the
Giant Belgian. And Sioux, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Purple and Zapotec Pleated. We offer over fifty varieties in all, both new-fangled
hybrids and trusty heirlooms.
We love the variety and subtle flavors of the heirlooms, knowing that these are tomatoes that someone's great-grandmother loved enough
to carry seeds with her from her homeland, or someone else's many-greats-uncle cultivated for years on the old homestead. Two years
ago, as my (Beth's) cousin David was visiting with some distant relative in Holmes County, Ohio, someone handed him an envelope of
seeds and said, “These are Mr. Slabaugh's tomatoes.” Slabaugh being my mother's family name, we've been delighted to grow these big
pink beauties here at Goldfinch Farm.
Supermarket tomatoes are usually bred to be extra hardy and firm, in order to withstand the lengthy travels to which we subject them, but I
think flavor is sacrificed in the process. Farm-grown heirlooms, on the other hand, are juicy and tasty, but they may be a little scarred or
mis-shapen. Don't be put off by an “ugly” tomato: it may hold the best flavor sensation of the summer.
At this point in the season, if you see a green tomato in the bins, it's likely a Green Zebra, or a Moldovan Green, both ripe when they begin to
blush yellow. The various yellow tomatoes that we grow tend to be much lower in acid, with a sweeter, more buttery flavor. Pinks are a little
higher in acid than the yellow, but still mellower than the reds, flavorful and flowery. The blacks and purples are basically the deepest
shades of red, and tend to have a smokier flavor, delicious with smoked cheese, crusty bread and red wine.
In the boxes of cherry tomatoes, we remain partial to the little orange Sungolds that taste like candy, but we're also growing a few Black
Cherry Tomatoes and Riesen Traube (a Pennsylvania German grape tomato).
We usually grow a few standard hybrids each year; we like the flavor of the Rutgers and Jetstar. Note that hybrid is not the same thing as
genetically modified. Hybrid plants are created with direct human intervention in the pollination process, but they are not genetically altered
in a lab; we do not grow genetically modified vegetables. Not all hybrids are red, and not all heirlooms are funky. While they have the oooh
factor of an heirloom tomato, the Green and Black Zebras are actually hybrids, while the round red Abe Lincoln, Arkansas Traveler and Box
Car Willie are all heirlooms.
Last season, the tomato patches went about their business sedately and temperately, giving us about a pound per share for most of the
season, then petering out a little early as the late blight took hold. In previous seasons, we have occasionally had the sudden bonanza of
extras as we had this past week.
Two years ago, we were trying to give away hundreds of pounds of tomatoes from a hybrid variety that developed a hard white mealy flesh
which we found tasteless and unpleasant for fresh eating, but which nicely bulked up the sauce for canning. We are hoping that this year's
tomatoes keep giving us a steady flow until October.
Speaking of Bonanzas. . .
The cucumbers have done much better this year. One of the varieties we're growing is the extra long Tasty Jade, which is true to its name,
but which was so carved up by the bugs a year or two ago. So far this year, they've been growing out beautifully. We may have several
times throughout the season when we have extra cucumbers for canning. If you would like to be informed of when we're swimming in
cukes so you can make pickles, let us know, and we'll put you on the list. We'll hand them out on a first come-first served basis.
Have you seen the email that's been making the rounds, about all the uses for a cucumber? Apparently, placing cucumber slices in an
aluminum pie tin in the garden creates some sort of chemical reaction to keep bugs away. They're apparently good for shining shoes,
eliminating bad breath and wrinkles, and even for cleaning crayon and pen marks off the wall (I am going to try this on my living room wall).
If you want me to forward the whole thing to you, email me at weaverkreider@comcast.net and I'll send it on.
The York County Farmstand Tour
This year, Goldfinch Farm has joined the York County Farmstand Tour, on August 7 and 14. It's promoted by the York Co. Ag. Business
Council and the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education. Visit four of the nineteen sites in one day and end up at one of the hosting
Finale Locations to receive a coupon book for all the stands.
On the 7th, you could easily visit Stone River Farm, Goldfinch Farm, Flinchbaugh's Orchard and Farm Market, and Dietz Produce before
heading down to the Horn Farm for the Heirloom Tomato Festival.
Ask Jon or Beth for more information, if you're interested, or go to www.hornfarmcenter.org.
Heirloom Tomato Festival
If the heirlooms at Goldfinch have you intrigued, stop by the Horn Farm Center on August 7, between 11 am and 5 pm to see many varieties
of tomatoes and sample culinary delights and listen to some excellent local music. Sweet Willows will be there with ice cream!
The Horn Farm has a beautiful and informative web site at www.hornfarmcenter.com.
More Great Web Sites
Here are a few interesting web sites to check out:
Buy Fresh Buy Local PA: www.buylocalpa.org
Rick Bayless (good recipes and good information): www.rickbayless.com
Obama Foodarama (White House Food and Garden Web Site): http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com This last has a yummy-looking
recipe for White House Zucchini Quesadillas when you scroll down the right-hand column.
One More Reason to Go Organic
In a recent issue of Lancaster Farming, there was a short article about a recent study of the inert ingredients which are added to herbicides
as solvents, preservatives, and surfactants. The ubiquitous Monsanto herbicide Roundup was the primary one listed. “. . .in the new
study,” the article notes, “scientists found that Roundup's inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells—even at
concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns.”
The article went on: “One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental
and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself—a finding the researchers called 'astonishing.'”
Zucchini Pizza Bites
I have been seeing recipes for these everywhere lately. Here's my take on the idea.
Cut one or two zucchini or yellow squash diagonally in ½-inch rounds. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil and roast at 425 for 5-7
minutes. Remove from oven and top each slice with your choice of the following:
Sauteed mushroom or cooked sausage
A spoonful of drained salsa, or tomato sauce or
tomato paste
A sprinkling or crumbling of shredded mozzarella,
parmesan, bleu cheese, feta, or other cheese
Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until cheese is just starting to brown, or broil for a minute or two.
Book Nook
I haven't read it yet myself, but Novella Carpenter's Farm City, about the urban farm she started on a blighted city lot in Berkeley, sounds
really interesting to me. She began with herbs and veggies, and wound up adding bees, chickens, turkeys and even pigs. I'm fascinated
by the ingenuity of people who won't be boxed in by the expectations of modern living.
I haven't yet seen, but plan to buy, Saving the Seasons, a new one out from Herald Press, who published the cookbook Simply in Season.
If you haven't seen SiS, I'll try to keep our copy out in the market room for you to check out when you come. It's one of our standards, along
with From Asparagus to Zucchini and The Practical Produce Cookbook, which are both arranged by vegetable.
My friend Ron lent me a copy of Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, with a title that for some reason tickles Farmer Jon's funnybone. The
recipes use simple, basic ingredients. Now that we finally have a cool morning again, soup actually sounds like a good idea to me.
Another set of books I've read about recently, and still want to look up, is Hungry Planet and What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets by
Peter Menzel and Faith D'Alusio. What I Eat is a chronicle in words and photos of the daily diet of people around the world.
Farming Quote of the Day
“Farmers are philosophical. They have learned that it is less wearing to shrug than to beat their breasts.”
~~Ruth Stout