Summertime

Summer is officially here and so is the heat! The garden is soaking up the sunlight on these ultra-long days and growing fast.

In Fields 2 and 3 are potatoes, garlic, onions and various cover crops. Nearby are the two greenhouses. The old greenhouse in front is home to the tomatoes and the new greenhouse behind is still where seedlings mature before moving out to the field as transplants.

Through the roll-up sides of the old greenhouse (put up in the daytime for ventilation and put down at night for warmth) you can see the tomatoes are getting tall.

Inside view of the tomatoes growing up the string trellises.

Tomatoes!

In Field 1 are the peas, broccoli, eggplant, radishes, lettuce, spinach, bok choy, kohlrabi, beans, turnips, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, corn, carrots and beets. Most of the mid-late summer veggies are still small but growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Lettuce is one of the first late spring veggies to appear and we've been eating it for the past couple of weeks. It's so exciting to start digging into fresh garden produce after a long winter of root cellar veggies, preserves and pickles and the few things we buy at the grocery store. I'm never disappointed at the amazing taste of the food our land gives us.

Veggies aren't the only thing growing at the farm this season. Baby #3 is due to arrive in two months with all my late summer favorites like corn, peppers and zucchini.

The kids have started their own little garden in the front near the house. They check daily on the progress of the cherry tomatoes, beans, peppers, cucumbers, peas, carrots and lettuce. There's also a small corn plot nearby.

Stay cool during these sweltering days! Visit our CSA page for info on our local pick-up options.

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Recipe: Tomato Lentil Curry

Heirloom tomatoes in-season are incredibly juicy, having a much higher water content than the kind of tomatoes available off-season that have traveled long distances and were picked when still green. That juiciness certainly makes them a joy to eat raw, but it can also be an element of cooking with heirloom varieties. In this recipe I used the water in my tomatoes to cook lentils, but I've also cooked beans, stews and pasta this way. The tomatoes add an amazing flavour of high summer to any slow cooking one pot meal. It also a good way of using tomatoes when you have an abundance and a few have split skins or look like they need to be used right away.

Ingredients:

- 3-4 large or 6-8 small tomatoes
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cinammon
- 3 tbsp butter or coconut oil
- 1 cup beans, chopped
- 2-4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

Steps:

1) Put tomatoes in a pot with a splash of water and cook on on high until tomatoes are sweating and bursting, about 3-5 minutes.

2) With a potato masher or large fork smash up the tomatoes and reduce heat to low.

3) Add lentils, water, salt, cumin, cinnamon and butter or coconut oil and simmer on low for 40-60 minutes.

4) Add beans and garlic and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

5) Serve with rice and plain yogurt or raita.

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Guest Recipe: Roasted Salad

For the next two weeks I'm thrilled to feature guest recipes from my dear friend Natalie. She's an awesome vegan cook, a mom to two sweet little boys, and a Toronto ex-pat like myself. Our respective downtown apartments used to be just a couple blocks from one another, but these days I pack the kids in the car and we drive from the farm out to Peterborough to visit. Wish we had the time to do it more often.

Natalie with her two monkeys, Barrett and Denver.

Natalie's at her most creative in the wee hours, when the house is quiet, and that's when this dish came to her. Sure, salad is delicious, but what about a roasted salad? That is, a salad made up entirely of oven roasted veggies. Mmm. The potatoes, squash and beans give this dish some weight and texture, while the tomatoes add caramelized sweetness and the kale a crisp leafiness. I think all I need to say are two final words: roasted garlic.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb potatoes, cubed
- 1 medium sized patty pan squash, sliced
- 2 cups snap beans, trimmed
- 2 cups kale, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Toss patty pan squash, potatoes and snap beans in olive oil in a roasting pan and salt lightly.

2. Bake, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender and beginning to brown, about 45 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, kale and garlic to roasting pan along with a bit more olive oil and salt.

4. Bake until kale is beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes.

5. Remove from pan to a salad bowl and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Take this time to pull kids away from their fun activity for boring old dinner. Might take longer than expected...

6. Serve with additional olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and enjoy with some good friends. Yum!

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Recipe: Beans with Crispy Sage

Sage lightly fried until it’s crisp and fragrant is a great addition to any veggie dish. We’ve got an overload of beans these days but fortunately these two go very very well together.

Ingredients:

- beans, enough to cover a pan in a single layer (careful not to fry too many beans at once or they will end up soggy and unevenly cooked*)

- handful of fresh sage leaves, stems trimmed off

- 1.5 tsp olive oil

- salt to taste

Steps:

1. Heat dry pan on high while prepping veggies. Make sure beans are thoroughly dry.

2. When pan starts to smoke lightly, add beans.

3. Stir beans frequently for about 1-2 minutes. When brown spots appear on the beans, remove to a plate. Do not let the beans blacken.

4. Drop the heat to low and let the pan cool. In the meantime, heat another pan to low-medium and add 1/2 tsp oil.

5. Add sage to oiled pan and fry until crispy, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

6. Add 1 tsp oil to the other pan that's been cooled down to low heat. Put the beans back on and cook about 10-15 minutes.

7. Mix beans and sage together and serve.

* For larger amounts of beans: Prepare in batches. Transfer batches from the pan after the high heat stage to a shallow dish in the oven at 300F and cook in olive oil for about 15 minutes (or until sufficiently softened).

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