You Say Tomato... I Say "You Betchya!"

Do we have tomatoes?  Why yes indeed!  Tomatoes upon tomatoes upon tomatoes.  We have luscious heirloom tomatoes in many varieties - monstrous Brandywines, Coeur de Boeus, Russian Blacks, and Italian Roma's and sweet yellow mini-pears-shaped cherry tomatoes.

Did you know that tomatoes are packed with all sorts of amazingness that make them a guilt-free food? And they keep your skin pretty?  Yep!  Beta Carotene and Lycopene help with deal with the damage that the all-mighty-sun does to our skin.  Then there's vitamins A, B6, C, K and Thiamine.  Don't forget Calcium and Niacin! And then loads of minerals such as magnesium, copper and phosphorus.

What do you like to do with tomatoes besides eat them fresh out of the garden, ala carte?

Two of my favorite summertime tomato treats are bruschetta and ranchero sauce.  Oh they scream to me of summer!  And both are very easy to make. 

Bruschetta

Diced tomatoes, chopped basil, minced garlic, sea salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Mix together, wait for a bit (if you can) and then spread on toasted sour-dough bread.  Don't forget the glass of red wine!

Ranchero Sauce

So delicious on eggs or smothered on chile rellanoes or baked chicken.  Simple ingredients: tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, garlic, fresh oregano, chipotle paste or powder, olive oil.  I use a recipe from a cookbook I bought at a Chevy's Fresh-Mex restaurant years ago and the link is here in case you want the whole shebang (they left out the chipotle in this one... I recommend it!)

Hankerin' For Something Specific?

If you're like me, there are days when the grocery list or my dinner menu is whatever tickles my fancy in the moment.  It's such a buzz-kill to be craving fresh dungeness crab only to find it's no longer in season!  But, I really, really, really wanted it!!!!

The same applies to garden goodness.  Tonight I am craving fresh corn-on-the-cob, slathered in butter with a touch of cayanne to complement my grilled steak.  However, all the hard-core corn lovers came to the farm early today and now we're sold out for few days!! I guess even the farmer's wife has to put in an order...

If there is something special you want, or something you want regularly, please do let us know so we can be sure to reserve it for you or offer an update of when we'll have it in stock.  This first year of farming for others has been a learning curve. We're learning what's hot and what's not.  We're also pleasantly surprised by the volume of friends and neighbors that are supporting our efforts.

Next growing season, we plan to increase our farm production and will be taking on CSA's to be sure to meet the needs of our regular farm supporters.  We appreciate any feedback you have on what you would like to see grown and if you want to be added into the pool of CSA shares.

(For more information on what a CSA is, click here.)

  

An Infestation, You Say?

I thought it was the smoke from forest fires that caused the 100+ moths to appear in one room of our house a couple days ago - because, why not blame a home invasion on something that is already invading your home, your eyes, your lungs?  

Normally we always take any bug “visitors” and put them outside as there’s no need to kill a bug that can easily be moved outside, right?  Different times call for different measures.   With two days of obsessively vacuuming those little flying-roaches, I thought I had removed just about the whole tribe.

Shifting gears...

As Dan and I are commiserating about the smoke and fires, we decide it's time to peak in on our bee hives and see how the bees are behaving.  I head to the “moth” room in the house to gather our bee gear and as I pull down our gloves, I notice a few moths drop off.  Then a few more start swarming my face.  And then I gulp.

Our bee-keeping attire was resting on top of a honey super with eight frames of capped honey from last year we were saving (why?  I don’t remember...)   So, guess where the moths were?  Yep.    A moth came shooting out of the hive, into my hair. I didn’t even bother to look inside the bee box, rather I went to gather Dan for what I was sure would give me major heebie-jeebies.  

We moved the honey frames and box to the back porch and as we pulled out the first frame of honey, I began to pray.  But I was too late.  Honey Armegedon had arrived.  And the anti-Christ had wings.

All of the honey frames were covered in moth poop.  Yes, moths poop.  And there were at least a million of them in various stages - eggs, maggoty-like-worm, cacoons, flying demons.  Dan begins to say “maybe we could save....”  and I jump to “dump it in the garbage!!!”   And the rest is history.

Well, hopefully.  

After a mad-cleaning frenzie, I head to the internet and decided to let Google school me on moths.  What I learned is that our little inconvenient moth mess actually could have been the straw that broke our little hive's back last year.

By the end of last summer, after our bees appeared to be flourishing, each of the three hives disappeared, one-by-one. We thought maybe we had Zombees or the yellow jackets had been too fierce and wore them down.  Then we were sure the bees were poisoned by neighbors who spray toxic chemicals on everything that grows.  We had no idea that there was such a thing as a wax moth and this nemesis could work hand-in-hand with any of the above and evict a whole hive. If you’re curious, check out this link to read more about the unwelcomed visitors to Kittleson Family Farm.

Poor honey bees!  It’s coming at them from all angles!!!   And all they want to do is help feed the world and spread some sweetness.