Posted in fruits, market, photo, vegetables, tagged farmers market, heirloom tomatoes on April 23, 2011| 1 Comment »
This coming Sunday is the last day that Bee Heaven Farm/Redland Organics is going to be at the Pinecrest Gardens Green Market. Come get the last of the heirloom tomatoes! In honor of the bumper crop we had this season, I put together a non-encyclopedic image of some of the 60+ varieties that Farmer Margie grows.
Bring your market tote! Margie is flooded with a sea of carrots, lettuce, onions, and there will be the legendary, farm-fresh Rachel’s Eggs grown by happy, pastured hens at Bee Heaven.
Posted in fruits, photo, vegetables, tagged heirloom tomatoes on April 17, 2011|
Heirloom tomato season is winding down.
This season it looked uncertain if there would be a good crop of heirloom tomatoes because of the freeze in December. Some plants were killed by cold (and replanted) but about half survived. Happily, there’s been a bumper crop and the barn was loaded for the past few weeks.
Double decker heirloom tomatoes ripening in the barn.
Tomatoes are picked as they start to turn color and ripen. If they stayed on the vine until they were completely ripe, there’s a good chance that birds and bugs would get to them before you would. The tomatoes are grouped by variety and stored in flats, which are stacked all over the barn to allow them to continue ripening.
But now the torrent is tapering to a trickle, and that means trouble for tomato-heads. Tomato season is slowly coming to an end. Vines are shaggy and some are flopping to the ground. They are definitely showing stress from heat and bugs.
I like zigzag streaks of gold along the sides of speckled romans. It looks like the planet Jupiter, doesn’t it? No two are alike. You’ll never see these in the grocery store!
Close up view of a speckled roman heirloom tomato.
Posted in fruits, market, photo, vegetables, tagged heirloom tomatoes on March 17, 2011|
Come early for the best selection. By noon, the supply of small tomatoes dwindles considerably.
The heirloom tomato season is in full swing! It was off to a late start compared to last year because of cold weather we had back in December. You may remember that some varieties died from freezing cold temperatures. Those that survived were dormant for a while, just hanging out, getting their energy back. Now comes the explosion of tomatoes unlike anything you will find at most stores. Farmer Margie calls it madness and it is best kind, a wild madness of colors, shapes, textures and flavors — especially the flavors!
Tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes!
Heirloom tomatoes are the jewels of the vegetable kingdom. They come in all different colors — yellow, orange, rose, pink, red and black, which really are deep red veering into shades of brown and purple. Green tomatoes are a bit tricky. They stay green (with either a pale blush or golden hue) when they are ripe, and have a bit of lemony tartness along with their tomato flavor. If you look carefully, some red ones have golden flecks and others have stripes. Yellows and oranges are sweeter, less acidic. A new discovery this year is garden peach — a yellow tomato that is fuzzy like a peach, thus the name.
Look carefully — can you see the fuzz? Yes, it’s a tomato called Garden Peach.
Margie is raising about 60 varieties this year and I’ve learned some of them by name. The ones I recognize are: cherokee purple, green zebra, Matt’s wild cherry (great for snacking), the pleated and ruffly Costoluto Genovese, sun gold, lemon drop, brown berry and black cherry (almost identical), red zebra, zapotec pleated, and podland pink.
Marauders in the vines.
You can save the seeds from your favorite kinds, plant them next season and grow the exact same thing you ate. That’s because heirloom vegetables are open pollinated, meaning they keep their traits from one generation to the next, unlike hybrids. Farmers and gardeners saved seeds of the varieties they liked over the generations. Just think, people grew and ate hundreds of different kinds of tomatoes, not three or four kinds we find in stores today. Each heirloom tomato variety is unique and valued for its ability to fight off disease and insects, or adapt to growing conditions, and of course, have an excellent flavor.
I’m partial to Matt’s wild cherry, lemon drop, brown berry, sun gold and green zebra. Which varieties are your favorites?
You’re not going to find something like this at the supermarket!
Posted in photo, vegetables, tagged beans on January 8, 2011| 1 Comment »
Tongue of Fire heirloom beans
No, a manic art student didn’t run amok with crayons and color every pod, but it sure looks that way, doesn’t it? These heirloom beans really do look this way!
The red variety is called Tongue of Fire. It is a shelling bean, which means you have to take the beans out of the pods (called shelling the beans). The variety is originally from the Tierra Del Fuego area. In Italy they are known as Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco, and are commonly used in soups and stews. It is a relative of the cranberry bean, but has more vibrant color.
Dragon’s Tongue heirloom beans
The purple variety is called Dragon’s Tongue, which you can eat pod and all. (Do dragons really have purple tongues?) The purple color is just amazing, and will remain if you pickle the bean, but fades to a pale yellow, wax bean color if you cook it. You can prepare it the same ways as green beans. It is crisp and juicy.
Gandules or pigeon peas, both fresh and dried
Gandules or pigeon peas need to be shelled. They are said to have the most protein than other beans, and are the main ingredient in the well-known Puerto Rican dish, arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas). Usually I see gandules frozen or canned. This is the only time I’ve seen them fresh.
Look for these beans at the Pinecrest Gardens and Homestead farmers markets.
Posted in chef, events, farmer/grower, vegetables, tagged Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, heirloom tomatoes, Redland Organics, Worden Farm on October 22, 2010|
You can buy heirloom tomato starts raised at Bee Heaven Farm this weekend at the Edible Garden Festival held at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
Here’s a list of what kinds of starts will be available this weekend.
Heirloom tomato starts: Mexico, Speckled Roman, Zapotec Pleated, Homestead 24, Taxi, Tigerella, Black Prince, Amish Gold (an awesome cross between Sun Gold and Amish Paste), Black Cherry, Brown Berry, Black Plum, Black Zebra, Cream Sausage, Green Zebra, Red Zebra, Black Zebra, Large Red, Lime Green Salad, Italian Heirloom, Federle, Opalka, Orange Banana, Super Snow White Cherry, Pink Ping Pong, Striped German, Tiny Tim, Koralik, Dr. Carolyn, Tommy Toe, Sun Gold, Creole, Healani, Tropic, Jaune Flamme, Matt’s Wild Cherry, Peacevine, Podland Pink, Podland Pink, Yellow Pear and many more!
Several varieties of tomato starts are registered in the Slow Food Ark of Taste. They are: Cherokee Purple, Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter, Sudduth’s Brandywine, Amish Paste, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, German Pink, Valencia and Red Fig. For a food to be listed in the Ark of Taste, “it has to have something exceptionally good, like flavor, or be in danger of disappearing because not enough people are growing it anymore,” Margie explained.
Veggie & Herb Starts: Arugula, Listada de Gandia Eggplant, Florida Highbush Eggplant, Garlic Chives, and more.
First harvests from Redland Organics growers:
From Redland farms: Certified organic Avocados, Carambola, curryleaf, fresh dried allspice berries, Thai basil, jakfruit, Rachel’s Eggs, local Wildflower Farm Honey and Tropical Fruit Honey.
From Punta Gorda partner Worden Farm: Cukes, squash, radishes, turnips, dandelions, bok choy, scallions, collards, dill & basil.
Prices for any combination of starts are $3 each, buy 5 get an extra one free (6 for $15). Buy 15 get 5 more free (20 for $45). All new this season, Redland Organics will have a credit card terminal and a SNAP terminal to make your shopping easier.
Also at the Festival, Margie is scheduled to give a talk about growing tomatoes called Beefsteaks are BORING! “Get away from beefsteaks, they take too long to grow. Be more adventurous!” she said. “Cherry tomato varieties do so much better down here.”
Several Redland Organics growers, members and others connected to R. O. will be giving presentations. Here’s the select lineup:
1:30 p.m. Green Garden Enchiladas cooking demo by Adri Garcia, Greenrocks Foods, LLC. Mise en Place, LLC., Cooking Tent
2:00 p.m. Cheese making demonstration with Hani Khouri, Corbin A
10:30 a.m. Drip Irrigation workshop, Muriel Olivares, next to Butterfly Garden
11:30 a.m. Tomato time! Beefsteaks are BORING! Margie Pikarsky, Garden House
12:00 p.m. Urban Food Forests, Marion Yanez, Corbin A
12:30 p.m. How to Make a Raised Bed Garden, Urban Oasis Project, next to Butterfly Garden
2:30 p.m. Your Edible Organic Garden, Ben Thacker, Garden House
Redland Rambles 