Two Feet in the Dirt

Okay, I promise not to spend an entire third post talking about garlic, but as fresh garlic season nears an end, I did want to share this great post found by a longtime friend and regular market shopper. If you’ve been curious about the difference between fresh and cured garlic and wondering how to use the fresh variety, click here to check out this article, aptly titled Fresh Garlic, and What To Do With It! I especially loved the details on what to do with each part of the fresh head and can’t wait to try to recipe for cream of garlic.

In other farm news, the first of the slicing and heirloom tomatoes are coloring up and we can’t wait for tomato season to start in earnest! The arrival of heirloom tomatoes brings to mind a question I have been asked by multiple shoppers regarding the purple beans we’ve been bringing. Many people have been very caught off by seeing beans in a hue so startlingly different from the typical green. Don’t worry- these beans have not been dyed or genetically modified (as a certified organic farm, we are prohibited from buying GMO seed, not that we ever would!) In fact, beans come in “heirloom” varieties just liked tomatoes and these heirloom beans come in all colors and patterns, from purple to red to striped. There are various definitions of what constitutes an heirloom vegetable, but to be broad about it, heirloom varieties are very old, predating the mass production and sale of seeds, and are “true to type” meaning if you save seed from a crop one year and plant that seed the next year, the same variety will grow. You can find heirloom varieties of every vegetable and, in fact, the first farm I worked on grew exclusively heirloom varieties. On our farm today, we grow many heirloom varieties as well. 

This week, expect an ever-expanding harvest of cherry tomatoes and eggplant. Check out our harvest list below for the full selection!

Farmers Katie & Mike

This week at the market:

• Cucumber
• Summer Squash
• String beans
• Jalapeno peppers
• Beets
• Carrots
• Lettuce salad mix
• Potatoes
• Basil
• Kale (large leaf)
• Rainbow chard
• Storage onions
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Cherry tomatoes