Green green green!

Green green green!

Living in BC and growing food is..to put it simply; amazing! However like all foodies and gardeners and farmers and everyone else it is always a weather game that we have to contend with. Around this time of year sometimes blight will take over tomato crops and we have started to see this around the garden. No big deal we will harvest the rest of the tomatoes even if they are green!

Tomatoes will rippen on your window sill, or in a paper bag or how ever you would like... but they are also great when green! We found this recipe from Simply Recipe  (Simply Recipe is such a great place to find inspiration for meal time! Thanks!!) for the green tomatoes about to be given in the CSA on Tuesday September 11, 2012. Although the original recipe calls for tomatillos we feel green tomatoes will be a perfect substitute!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe (Use Green tomatoes too!!)

To cook the tomatillos, you can either roast them in the oven, or boil them. Roasting will deliver more flavor; boiling may be faster and use less energy. Either way works, though boiling is a more common way to cook the tomatillos.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 lb tomatillos
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2
• serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• Salt to taste   

METHOD- Makes 3 Cups

1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.
2a Roasting method Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.
2b Boiling method Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon.
2 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.
Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.

 Although the season is nearing an end for the CSA there is still so much of a growing season ahead of all of us! We are gearing up for our fall/winter crops. Did you know that garlic is planted in the fall? Did you also know that Chilliwack has a garlic festival!! Upcoming Community GREEN events/info:

Fantasy Farms Inc. is proud to present: Chilliwack Garlic and Music FestivalFor the love of Garlic, we have planted 12 varieties from mild to OMG! We have put the word out to garlic growers from the four corners of BC to bring their very best to dazzle your senses. Join us and dozens of vendors from all around the province for our second annual garlic festival. September 15th and the 16th. There will be music, cooking demos, garlic tasting, garlic goodies and so much more. Bring the little ones and enjoy our family fun zone, take a ride on Petey’s Pumpkin express to visit this year’s Pumpkin patch and see them still on the vine.

We are still looking for vendors so if you have a product that you think will fit send us and email or give us a call.Check out the website: More info Here

I know I will be stocking up with garlic this upcoming weekend as mine just didn't make the bounty as hoped!

Hope to see you all there!

-Dayna

helping you grow

September Harvest

September Harvest

 This is a picture  of the latest harvest basket and was loaded with cucumbers, tomatoes, tomatillos, baby leeks, kale, swiss chard, basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, squash, beans, and some lovely nasturtiums.

This is the next stage to our lovely seeding artichoke, I believe we will soon harvest for seeds!

Some of our full shareholders received squash in their baskets.

 These beauties actually turn yellow when they are ripe, and we harvested a ton! Neat fact: Little yellow tomatoes are actually a great way of deterring birds/birds that will eat your crops!

Squash in full baskets remind me of baby pumpkins!! So adorable and lovely, hmmm I would have loved one of these stuffed with some quinoa and herbs from my basket!

Our bean quality control on duty and working hard as usual!

Out lovely mix of beautiful tomatoes all heirloom varieties and did I mention delicious!!

This is a picture of Eightball squash and some corn that we have our fingers crossed that they will produce...

Lovely produce, beets and carrots oh how we love these roasted in the oven or fresh too!

Baby Wallawalla onions... I don't imaging the rest will get much larger this year... :(

This is a neighbouring pumpkin that is doing fantastic, and is a little reminder that Halloween is on the way!!

There are some lovely community gardens that surround the SOLfarm and is so wonderful to watch all the gardens grow. In this picture there is actually a type of hold growing on the squash plants that could actually affect the rest of the neighbouring tomatoes if not properly taken care of and disposed.....finger crossed! We have been cleaning up the garden and just have so much fun planting and growing new foods! Like the picture below!

This is a picture of Ocra, I have never planted or even tried to grow this is just a sample plot/ trial run and it is so beautiful! Whew knew it had such a gorgeous flower on it too! I hope it fruits!!

Enjoy everyone and happy harvesting!

-Dayna