In the share this week:
1+ lb mixed tomatoes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 lb red onions
1 lb roma beans
1 bunch carrots
Specialty peppers, bell peppers or eggplant
1 bunch thai basil
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
Tomato city this week. Our heritage varieties are coming on really strong this week, so everyone will get at least 1.5 lbs in their regular share. Here's a rundown on the different slicer varieties we are growing this year:
Yellow with red striping - Margold
Dark, almost purplish (similar to Cherokee Purple) - Marnerno
Green and Pink Striped - Pink Berkeley Tie Dye
Dark pink, smaller - Martha Washington
Bright red - BHN589
Bright yellow - BHN871
The top four varieties are known as heritage tomatoes. They are the result of crosses between heirloom tomatoes and have been selected for excellent flavor and texture. These plants have a good bit more disease resistance than most heirloom tomatoes as well, which allows us to grow them over a longer season. Margold and Martha Washington are a little lower acid than the other types, which makes them taste a bit sweeter in my opinion. The last two tomatoes on the list are really solid determinate hybrid tomatoes. The breeder didn't give them very exciting names, but we've found the red variety to be just what a lot of people want in a classic red slicer tomato - great flavor, slightly firmer for sandwiches, good meatiness.
You are also getting another pint of cherry tomatoes this week since our plants are still producing those like crazy! Here are our three cherry tomato varieties:
Sungold - orange and super sweet
Cherry Bomb - red, larger with a great balanced flavor
Black Cherry - purplish, large and with a complex floral character
If you love to slice your tomatoes and eat them fresh, here is a simple recipe for a thai basil dressing that you can drizzle over them:
Thai basil has an anise, clove quality that is really lovely. If you don't want to use your thai basil in a dressing and don't have another use for it right away, this is a good herb to dry by handing upside down. We have been giving you so many carrots over the last few weeks! This current planting is looking awesome, so hopefully you are enjoying your carrots in lots of ways. These are awesome for eating raw and we often use them as much as onions in so many dishes - soups, sauteed side dishes, fried rice, etc. They keep really well in the fridge for a while as long as you take the greens off first. New in shares this week are roma or romano beans. These are a larger, flat pod italian green bean. We love the flavor of these beans and the fact that they are bigger and easier to pick. If you are in need of some green bean inspiration, here is a tasty recipe for stewed romanos and tomatoes:
Share 13 marks the official half-way point of our CSA season! We hope you have been enjoying your share thus far and we are looking forward to the second half of the season after our one week CSA break next week. It is a perfect time for us to relax and rejuvenate so that we can come back fresh to tackle the rest of the season!