Summer Farm Share Week 11 brought Tomato Heaven with our Garden Bounty added to it. When Heirloom tomatoes ripen, I’m a happy girl. We received those, and a wide variety of small tomatoes for munching in our farm share. Plus, our own Juliet and Fargo Pear tomato plants started producing in quantity this week. Everything with tomatoes is my siren song so we don’t waste a bite.
Week 11 of our small summer farm share included (featured photo at the top of this post is a full vegetarian share)…
Potatoes – Yukon Gold – 3 lbs
Plums – Vanette – 1 quart
Cucumber – 1 (to make up for missing Squash last week)
Heirloom Tomatoes – 1.5 lbs
Green Peppers – 2
Cherry Tomatoes – 1 pint
Purple Filet Beans – 1 lb
Leek – 1 large stalk
Swiss Chard – 1 bunch
Watermelon – Yellow Doll – 1 – so sweet but lots of seeds
Melon – Crenshaw – 1
My half of our small Vegetarian summer farm share (above photo) and what’s left since Wednesday, August 10…
Potatoes – Yukon Gold – 1.5 lbs – I baked two of these, then sliced the rest for fried potatoes with garlic and onions. Yum!
Plums – Vanette – 1 quart – we’re eating these fast but there are still a few left.
Cucumber – 1 (to make up for missing Squash last week) – gave this to my parents and I took the leek.
Heirloom Tomatoes – .75 lbs – these are amazing on sandwiches or in wraps – tomato sandwiches are the bomb with Heirloom tomatoes – 1 left.
Green Peppers – 1 – haven’t used this yet, maybe a stuffed pepper for 2?
Cherry Tomatoes – 1 pint – we haven’t tackled these yet since I purchased some and our own tomatoes became ripe this week.
Purple Filet Beans – 1/2 lb – these are so fun – they turn green when cooked and we ate them up.
Leek – 1 large stalk – still have this — maybe I’ll simmer it with the Swiss Shard to freeze.
Swiss Chard – 1/2 bunch – I need to get this eaten or in the freezer.
Watermelon – Yellow Doll – 1/2 – so sweet but lots of seeds – Mr. Carnivore didn’t seem to mind them as he ate almost the whole thing himself. HA
Melon – Crenshaw – 1/2 – still have this lovely to taste. I don’t remember having a Crenshaw last year. It’s fun trying new varieties of fruit.
Extra
6 Peaches — I couldn’t resist buying these extra. So sweet!
RESULTS…
Farm share night we had a fruit feeding fest and tried the plums and the peaches, along with the grapes we had bought at the grocery. I used the 2 biggest potatoes to bake in the microwave, then made a cucumber and tomato salad to use up some of the excess we had accumulated. I love tomato and cucumber salad the next day more, because the dressing marinates the vegetables into yumminess.
Tomato Cucumber Salad easy recipe…
Chop several small tomatoes and at least one cucumber into bite sized pieces. Add 1/4 of a sweet onion, chopped, plus one rib of celery, chopped. Drizzle on some Zesty Italian dressing and mix it real well. Put in the refrigerator for at least an hour to marinate. I like to add some Parmesan or Feta cheese before serving. Black olives are also a good addition.
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I really love the farm share when we start getting several varieties of fruit. I like fruit well enough, but it’s not something I focus on eating daily until I can get it farm fresh. It’s amazing how much flavor is lost in transit. You don’t realize it until you eat fruit fresh picked. I can hardly take the time to wash the fruit before I’m digging in and tasting them on farm share night. It’s almost impossible for me to resist buying fruit extras when they’re available.
We enjoyed our sandwiches and wraps for lunch this week with sliced heirloom tomatoes. So amazing! If you’ve never had an Heirloom Tomato sandwich, then put that high on your list to try. I like mine with a light slathering of mayo on lightly buttered toast. If you’re not into Mayo, then ranch dressing also works good.
The purple beans are a lot of fun. I clean them real well on farm share pick-up night and then let them air-dry on a cooling rack. I speed up the process by turning on our ceiling fan in the kitchen. We store the potatoes in the pantry and the beans in the refrigerator, but both should be completely dry before storing.
The purple beans go into the pot with some veggie broth and onion, then brought to a boil. You can see them starting to turn green here. Kids will get a kick out this magic.
Once they’re green, I put some cooked ham into the pot for some flavoring and simmer a bit. Since Mr. Carnivore consistently eats ham for sandwiches, there’s always a slice available for the beans.
I’ll be making something with tomatoes next because the tomato plants in our garden are producing rapidly this week. These are just a few of the Juliet tomatoes I picked, along with a couple Gypsy peppers. There are more peppers to pick, but I’m hoping to let a couple of them turn color before picking. We’re also just starting to pick the Yellow Fargo Pear tomatoes and the Black Cherry tomatoes will be ready in a couple days.
I bought a new dehydrator to try with tomatoes this year. I’m also hoping for some apricots for drying. I really love dried tomatoes and olive oil with pasta, so hopefully my plants will produce enough to make it worth it. I also want to buy a crate of San Marzano plum tomatoes this year so I can roast them to freeze like I did last year. Out of all the produce I’ve put up over the years, the roasted tomatoes are my favorite and have enhanced our favorite dishes.
It has been a great week of farm share eating – one of my favorites!
What’s on your binge eating list when you can get it fresh?
