Time? What Time? Summer? What Summer?

The summer is flying by and we can’t believe it’s almost August! So far the month of July has been filled with lots of tomatoes and fresh grown produce, busy market weekends, visitors to the farm, late nights working and did I mention the produce? We’ve been gearing up for our Tomato Day on August 7th and new this week are new solar panels to help improve our energy efficiency. Be looking for those pictures soon! The heirloom tomatoes are beautiful and bountiful as well. Every year we’re amazed at their color and taste. They are truly a treat!

Speaking of treats…because of our long work days, our supper times have moved back considerably in recent weeks as well. The other night after a long day delivering tomatoes and running errands it was obvious that we were in for another late night nosh. We some of our produce in the crisper and I came up with this yummy concoction. It’s not an earth shattering recipe on the difficulty scale but in worked in a pinch and tasted really good with grilled steaks and tomato and mozzarella salad. Give it a whirl! It has 2 of our favorite food groups…Bacon and Butter!
Crisper Fried Corn

4 ears corn- cut off the cob
½ diced green pepper
½ small white onion diced
4 tblsp. Bacon bits (don’t skimp, use the real ones)
2 tblsp. Butter
Add all ingredients to a frying pan and heat until butter is melted and vegetables are warm throughout. Enjoy!

Tomato, Oh Tomato, How We Love Thee...

Is it weird to write a love poem about tomatoes? Yeah, ok, it is but our season that began in late May is now in full swing! We love them so much that we have a one day festival celebrating them each year. Tomato Day 2010 is scheduled for August 7, 2010. See below for a little bit more information! It’s sure to be a good time.

In more tomato news…simplicity saves time. Time saved is time that gets to be spent with family. So, simple time saving recipes are what we love! I made this yummy salad for the big party we had a few weeks ago. The same party in which “Stella Salad” was created. There are lots of tomato salad recipes out there; this one is just our variation. The centerpiece is our Fahrmeier Red Tomato’s and a few herbs and seasonings that everyone typically has in their cabinet or can be requested in your next CSA delivery. I made this for a large scale crowd so that means I had to go back to the drawing board for closer ingredient measurements. Keep this one handy...the tomato’s are coming!

“Who Doesn’t Love a Fahrmeier Red Tomato Salad?”

3 lb. Fresh Tomato’s– or use different varieties for an added splash of color! (Cut them in eighths)
1/2 C. Feta Cheese (white or yellow cheddar cheese curds, shredded parmesan or cubed Gouda would be really good too)
Dressing:
¾ cup Olive Oil
2 tblsp. Minced Garlic
Small handful of minced fresh basil
½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper (for a little kick of course)
2 tblsp. Celery Salt
2 tblsp. Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
How to:
With a wire whisk mix all ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl until fully blended and set aside. Place cut tomatoes in a large salad bowl. Take dressing and pour over salad and stir lightly. Let them marinate for an hour or so at room temperature so the flavors will marry. Right before serving top with cheese. We like to eat this at room temperature to get the full tomato flavor. It’s so easy! Enjoy!

Check out these early Heirloom's fresh from our farm garden...

Stella Salad

Cooking is just what we like to do. Well, the eating part is the most fun but cooking brings us together and doesn’t include as big of a calorie intake. Especially considering how much butter gets used around here. A couple weeks ago we had a family party at the farm and in typical Fahrmeier “can do” fashion, we decided to do our own catering for it. We made a series of salads and other good stuff. As usual, I didn’t have a recipe to follow, just some gut instincts on what would be a tasty combination at the end. Well, right as we were packing up my car to take our food treasures to the farm the sky decided to open up and pour. This was not a light sprinkle by any sense of the word…more like buckets, boots and barrels with wind…lots and lots of wind. Well in the panic of trying to pack the car without getting completely drenched, Stella, our beloved puppy, decided to go for a frolic through the rain. It was a fast paced yet slow motion moment that happened all at once. 2 giant tubs of salad were left unattended in the backseat of my car with the door wide open and then the 3 fateful words crossed my mouth…”Load Up Stella” and slick as a cat, I had a soaking wet border collie puppy sitting in the middle of one of the tubs of salad that my friend Julie and I had thoughtfully prepared. Stella wasn’t budging and all we could do is laugh at the site of the dog in a bright blue bucket filled with fresh spinach, raspberries, onions and feta. Needless to say, that batch got tossed in pretty quick fashion and the surviving tubs were devoured that evening at our party. The bonus is that we came up with an instant name for our salad that also brings up fond memories. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did!


Stella Salad

2 small bags of fresh baby spinach
1 small tub of feta cheese
½ c. red onion diced
1 pt. fresh red raspberries
½ c. pecan pieces
Your favorite raspberry vinaigrette to drizzle

Prepare: Dump spinach into large salad bowl and sprinkle all other ingredients on top and serve dressing on the side. Simple and done in 5 minutes. It’s delicious and very colorful!

Sometimes it's just easier to look...

The past few weeks have gone by very quickly and luckily we've captured lots of it with photos. So without going into great detail with lots of words we thought pictures could better explain the progress on the farm!

Sweet Corn is here! And it's super tasty! Everyone has enjoyed it, including our dog! We will have it ALL Summer long!

Our eggplants are dark purple, beautiful and yummy. I'm currently seeking a recipe to wrap, roll or stuff it with something really fatty!

Pumpkins! Orange, white, green, warty, baby and cute. Our early patches have taken off and are looking great. The vines are officially growing together which means they will be one their way very soon. Fall is coming which is kind of a scary thought considering at the end of everyday we are drenched in sweat from a hard day's labor in the summer heat.

And tomatoes...the pride of our produce. We will grow litterally tons of the juicy, flavorful, big, small, yellow, RED, green and purple fruits. Our varieties are extensive as my jewelry collection and we love them all! Ron, aka "Dad" is pictured here sorting, grading and cleaning our first large picking of the season. This will be a familiar sight as our summer on the farm continues! Now, onto trying to keep up with everyone...that's a job within itself!