Kretschmann Farm Aug. 26, 2008
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings from the Kretschmanns,
Another week, and
it’s drier yet. We’ve pared back on the
irrigation to just 3 hrs. per day to conserve the
water in the pond. There’s a good bit,
but as the level gets lower, the area of the pond shrinks. To give you an idea
of the volumes involved, several years ago, we had placed one of those huge
plastic water containers (2000 gal.) down the hill from our barn so all the
runoff from the roof, the paved areas, and our wash water
would fill it. It was up to the top last
week and we decided to use that water for a ¼ A. field of fennel nearby. The pump ran for only two hours before the
sudden change in the pitch of the motor indicated it was out of water. Better than nothing, but the field was barely
wetted at all. From the pond we irrigate
several acres for four hours each evening.
Imagine the number of gallons to do that, and then imagine the gallons
in rainfall to water every square inch of the farm! The remnant of Faye is coming north!
Tomatoes are king. We took a walk on Sunday to see overall how
things look and, even though we’ve got literally a ton of tomatoes picked in
the barn, it was hard not to come back
with a bucketful of ones we happened to see.
So our kitchen counter continues to fill with these orbs of the summer
in various stages of maturity. We should
have lots more of all kinds, plum, pink, yellow, big, little, and green,
tomatoes.
Looking forward: our beans have been a bit of a disaster with the
wet cool spring and poor germination, but we have now three very good plantings
coming. Small beans are forming
which means about two weeks to picking.
Unfortunately, with the scarce water, we’ve just been irrigating half
the planting. Zucs.
For
those who have gotten them the apples so far have been a little rough, but
those early tart ones are always the best for baking anyway. Later varieties are looking good, though
smallish due to the drought. We’re also looking forward to getting apples like
we did last year from the Oyler’s—this year they are
certified organic.
Thanks for returning empty blueberry pints
coming. You can see the cherry tomatoes fill them up quickly.
Still a bit dusty, we are
----
Don, Becky, & The Kretschmann Crew
Veggie ID: The tan or green smallish football shaped
thing is a spaghetti squash. They are a
good bit smaller than normal due to the drought, but they are actually a nice
size for a few servings. Likewise they
cook quicker. Just boil the whole squash
in a big pot of water until a knife inserted indicates it’s tender. Then cut in half with a strong knife, scoop
out the seeds and remove the flesh which tends to come out in strands like
spaghetti.
Note: Just a reminder that the payment for the
second half of the season is due any time now.
Second half payments for the basic veggie box every week: Sm--$225, Med. $275, Lg. $325. Berries, cheese, coffee, etc. is extra. We’ll be mailing a bill out if we don’t
receive anything in a few weeks.
This is an Italian classic
Pappa al Pomodoro: Heat ½ c. olive oil in skillet and sauté 2 cloves
chopped garlic. Then add 2# chopped very
ripe tomatoes cooking until tender. Then
add 10 chopped basil leaves, 4 chicken bullion cubes and cook 2-3 min. until
bullion is dissolved. Let stand 1 hr,
then add 1# stale bread cubes, salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or cold drizzled with olive
oil.
Tomato Slurp: Slice up a bowl full of tomatoes; add a couple of
small onions, or a larger one - to taste
a couple of squirts of lemon juice (about ½ lemon);
some olive oil, salt - to taste. Let it
marinate for a couple of hours. Eat as a salad - or with a
good bread.
Roasting tomatoes evaporates some of the liquid and, like roasting any
vegetable,
concentrates the flavors. We always roast the tomatoes when we
can sauce because it’s easier and doesn’t risk burning when you boil them.
Roasted Tomato Pizza: Brush a cookie sheet with oil. Lay tomatoes sliced 3/8-1/2" thick on
the cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil
and dust with garlic powder and bake about 1/2 hr at 350 deg. until they start
to dry out a little. When the pizza
crusts are ready, carefully move the tomato slices with a pancake flipper and
arrange to nearly cover the pizza.
Sprinkle a small amount of grated mozzarella on top and then top with
vegetables sauted slightly in olive oil with garlic (suggestions:
peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and onions).
Roasted
Pepper & Tomato Pasta with Shrimp: Make one cookie sheet of roasted tomatoes
(about 5) and roasted peppers (about 2). Boil and peel 1/2# shrimp. Dice and saute about
5 cloves of garlic and 1/2 c green onions sliced in rings. Add the shrimp to the garlic & onions,
then add about 12 oz bowtie pasta cooked & drained, the peppers, tomatoes
and 1/2 c chopped fresh basil.
Special
Orders: Basil—$11/half bu. Hungarian Wax Hot Peppers--$20/half
bu. We’ll start to sort out tomatoes for
canning. If you leave your name, we’ll
get them out to you as we have them. ½
bu. tomatoes--$20