Farm Notes
This week we hit #peaktomato, and it’s all I can do to keep up with harvesting. I’ll be honest that every year, growing tomatoes stresses me the heck out. I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t love a good locally grown tomato.. they are so juicy and vibrant and filled with flavor, just begging to be sandwiched between two mayo-slathered pieces of toasted bread. So you can imagine that as a farmer, there’s some pressure to deliver a bounty of ripe tomatoes all summer long!
We plant our tomato seedlings in mid-April, and for months they require lots of care and attention, hours spent pruning and trellising and fertilizing with fish emulsion, etc. And then finally.. finally! Assuming that no pest or fungus or other natural disaster has taken them out, by July the tomatoes are usually hitting their stride. Which means we are eating a lot of tomatoes around here! Make sure to keep scrolling to today’s recipe, for a tomato & corn galette I made last weekend that was a hit at our house.
In addition to allll the tomatoes, this week our CSA members got an assortment of peppers, eggplant, green beans, basil, etc! Looking ahead to next week, I’m excited to start adding some okra and garlic to the mix, along with some of our hot peppers like seranos and jalapenos.
Overall, it’s been a busy, hot, sweaty, and otherwise uneventful week at the farm, and we’re looking forward to a quiet weekend to catch up on sleep, farm chores, and to visit with friends at go to Saturdays in Saxapahaw. By this time in the season, most all of our summer veggies are planted and producing, and now I’m focused on keeping up with the harvesting (and the weeds!) and planning + prepping for fall. Earlier today I seeded an experimental few rows of carrots, in hopes that we’ll get an early fall harvest. I’ve never tried planting carrots this time of year (usually I just plant them in the spring and fall when it’s not so hot), so we’ll see what happens!
For any of our local friends looking for a fun, farm to table experience next weekend, join me for our next hands on workshop here at the farm! There are still a few spots left in my Eat Like a Farmer Workshop on Saturday, July 16th @ 4-6:30pm. We’ll do a full farm tour, and everyone will get to help harvest veggies which we will use to whip up a few delicious summer salads, all while working on our knife skills and making homemade vinaigrettes. More details + tickets can be found here.
For a full tour of what’s growing on the farm this week + helpful growing tips, tune into my virtual farm walk from earlier today HERE on Facebook or in our google drive folder HERE. In today’s farm walk I dig into everything from how to trell eggplant and peppers, to how to deal with japanese beetles, how to properly harvest basil, and lots more.
Okay, now it’s time for our July giveaway! Inspired by all things tomatoes, this month I’m going away one of my favorite cookbooks, which has a whole chapter dedicated to tomatoes… Deep Run Roots, by North Carolina native Vivian Howard. If I could only own 5 cookbooks, this one would definitely make the cut – Vivian is an incredible writer, and I love how the book is organized in chapters dedicated to specific ingredients – ie a chapter on Corn, Blueberries, Pecans, Peaches, and of course.. Tomatoes!
TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY – There are two ways that you can enter this giveaway (just choose 1):
Comment on this post in our private Facebook Group and share your favorite dish/recipe to make using tomatoes! If you aren’t already a member of our private Facebook Group, just request access here.
OR Click the “Comment” button at the bottom of this journal entry and share your favorite dish/recipe to make using tomatoes!
You have until Thursday, July 14th @ midnight to enter, and I’ll announce one randomly selected winner on Friday, July 15th.
Kitchen Notes
I’m pretty sure that galettes are my spirit dish… a little rough around the edges, but there’s goodness on the inside! Galettes are great because they are meant to look rustic, so there’s no need to strive for perfection… the more imperfect, the better. I also love that galettes can evolve with the season –all you need is a good basic pie dough recipe on hand, and you can fill it with whatever veggie (or fruit!) combination that strikes your fancy. There are a million different pie dough recipes out there, so feel free to use whatever recipe you like best (I like this one from Fine Cooking). I whipped up this tomato + corn galette last weekend and I’m already looking forward to making it again. Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz in Fine Cooking.
Summer Tomato & Corn Galette
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kernels removed from 2 ears of corn (about 2 cups)
1 recipe pie dough (I like this one, but use whatever recipe you like!)
1/2 cup gruyère or aged gouda cheese, shredded (plus more for garnish)
1 large or 2 medium ripe tomatoes (about 1 lb total) cut into 1/3-inch slices, drained on paper towels
1 large egg yolk mixed with a splash of milk or cream
Handful fresh basil, finely chopped (for garnish)
PREPARATION
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat a bit and add the garlic and corn and cook for a minute or two (just make sure the garlic doesn’t burn). Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside to cool.
Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet, preferably one without sides, with kitchen parchment. (If your baking sheet has sides, flip it over and use the back.)
Roll the dough on a floured surface into a 15-inch round, lifting the dough with a metal spatula as you roll to make sure it’s not sticking. If it is, dust the surface with more flour. Transfer it by rolling it around the rolling pin and unrolling it on the lined baking sheet.
Spread the onion and corn mixture over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border without filling (I also reserve a little of the corn mixture to sprinkle on top of the tomatoes, but that is optional). Sprinkle the cheese over the onion and corn mixture. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer over the onions and corn and season them with salt and pepper. If desired, top the tomatoes with some of your reserved corn mixture.
Lift the edges of the dough and fold them inward over the filling, pleating as you go, to form a folded-over border. Pinch together any tears in the dough. Brush the egg yolk and milk mixture over the exposed crust.
Bake until the crust has browned, 35 to 45 min. Slide the galette off the parchment and onto a cooling rack. Let cool for 10 minutes. Cut the galette into wedges, garnish with a bit more cheese and the chopped fresh basil, and serve.
Today’s Stats
Low temp: 72F
High temp: 90F
Sunrise: 6:07am
Sunset: 8:37pm
Moon phase: Waxing gibbous
Additional notes: Hot & humid