Saturday, August 7, 2010

TTT sandwich

3rd post in 1 day! We must be productive when we have the time. Last night I finished a 10 week tv series and am psyched to have some spare time to help with the farm; just in time for harvest! As Grant is off delivering tomatoes, i wanted to take the time to document what has been going on with the veggies from where i sit.

Things are growing and ripening at an exponential rate. Soon the house will be filled with actual tomatoes instead of the tomato grow op that was here all spring. ;) 

I woke up this morning to the smell of toasted tomato sandwiches...delicious. My favourite summer meal. So simple. It reminded me of my good friend Judy who lives in Amsterdam who taught me all about the art of the tomato sandwich from growing up eating incredibly fresh tomatoes from her parents garden in Winnipeg. She is CRAZY for tomatoes and taught me alot about picking them. She was the pickiest tomato picker out there and i think she would approve of what Grant is harvesting. i wish i could courrier her some. hmmmmm.........

I was obviously the first guinea pig and i must say they are delicious. My favourites are the black crims, juane flammes and all the cherries. Actually those are the only ones ready, so they are all my favourites ;)  The big ones seem to have alot of cracks which is apparently a result of absorbing too much water too fast. Sorta how you feel after eating too much...;) only we just undo our belts not open our skin. I'd rather have mind blowing flavour and a few cracks than pristine  looking fruit that tastes like cardboard.

Things started rolling last week at Cowbell with Grants' fried green tomatoes. They were apparently a hit. Thanks Chef/owner Mark Cutrara for putting them on the menu and being our first restaurant to serve Prairie Boy tomatoes. Chef Carl at Marben has also purchased some tomatoes and squash blossoms. Pots at For Life Organics in Kensington market has tomatoes, as does cafe/caterer Belly in parkdale. Grant is out today delivering to new chefs now that we have more than just a few samples. Last but not least, our heatwave seems to have broken which means the tomatoes are going to ripen like crazy starting now because apparently they won't ripen above 35˚ or something like that (Grant knows) and i had my first tomato, tomato and tomato sandwich for breakfast (which was actually 3 kinds of tomatoes, cukes, avocado and a little red onion).


 it was scrumdiliiscious! -lainie

Them Crooked Swedes

So as promised I'll tell you about the Crooked Swede. Lainie and I went up to Manitoulin Island to visit friends, Marilyn and Elwood. They have an amazing backyard garden that was a little overrun as Elwood had been away for a week at his bother's 80th? birthday party in Saskatchewan. As we helped him catch up on the garden, he told us about his potatoes he calls Crooked Swedes. Where exactly the varietal originated is unclear but the ancestors to these little beauties came over from Europe in the coat pockets of Elwood's grandfather in 1905. Elwood gave me a few of the sprouting spuds and i have planted them in the Niagara. Not sure if they will be too late to give me a few spuds or not. I hope to get enough to use for seed next year. If not I guess we will have to head back to the Manitoulin for some more gardening and spuds next spring. Thanks Elwood and Marilyn for the great day and for the Crooked Swedes.

First bite!

    On Saturday the 24th of July i went to the farm for the first time to harvest veggies. The plan was to get some squash blossoms for Mark at Cowbell. During my morning walk through the fields I noticed to my huge excitement a ripe tomato. It was a beautiful, bright orange Kellogg's Beefsteak. It hard to describe what it was like to stand in the middle of the field after months of hard work and eat this amazing tomato. The texture was firm and the taste was a perfect blend of sweet and acid with a remarkable complexity. As the rounds continued i discovered several more ripe fruits. Not too many yet but its a sure sign that full scale harvest is only days away now. I also was able to harvest cukes, zucchinis and squash blossoms. It is both exciting and stressful. I have the feeling that i am about to get very, very busy.