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Member Farms>Who We Are>August 18, 2006
Newsletter -- August 18, 2006
Dear community of meadowlark eaters,
We hope that you are ready to eat some melon this week... Watermelon of various color, orange and red and yellow swirled with orange, and butterscotch melons which are the little greenish globes that on the inside are orange swirled with green. These melons are all ripe and ready to eat; don't let them sit long or they will not taste the best. We knew that we had some ready, but 3 wheelbarrows full later we realized we had enough for all shares to have a watermelon and a butterscotch melon... enjoy!
Boxes today include: salad mix, garlic, sweet onion, caribe potatoes, green pepper, eggplant, zukes, cukes, sunshine winter squash (the orange pumpkin-esqu creature in your box is ready to bake and eat), carrots, green and rattlesnake pole beans (they look big, but they aren't as tough as you might think, they're actually delicious cooked), melons for all, basil, heirloom tomatoes as well as reds. Blackberries for fruit shares.
A not to those who are new to meadowlark, and a reminder for lod timers: remember the heirloom tomaaotes??? We have cultivated a love, reverence, devotion (some might say obsession) with growing and eating heirloom varieties of tomatoes. What is an heirloom? Heirlooms are beloved seeds handed down from hand to hand. These seeds have traveled across oceans and time and have reverently been given from one generation to another. Aside from their cracks and crevices and "cosmetically challenged" appearances, they carry color and stories and flavor. These are not the supermarket variety of tomato that can be harvested green, gassed to ripen, shipped across the country with a taste like red cardboard. These beauties with poetic names and stories are soft and green or pink or orange or yellow or yellow shading to red or pruple. With names like "Aunt Ruby's German Green", "Purple Cherokee", "Brandywine", "Kellog's Breakfast", "Green Zebra", "Big Rainbow" and one of our favorites "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter" how can one resist?? We encourage you to look past their outside and savor the insides. When you see a tomato in your box that is yellowish or pink, it is ripe and ready to eat.
With the red tomatoes, we have tried to include some that are already ripe and some that will ripen through the week so that you can enjoy them for many days to come. We have had a couple of lovely dishes this week; one a ratatouille made by Ben Ruggles for lunch and our favorite tomato bread. Here's how to make a quick and easy lunch or dinner and tastes like summer at it's height.
LYNN'S TOMATO BREAD
- one loaf of white country style bread, we use bagel factory French loaf, but a sone house ciabatta or Italian would be good too
- a thin layer of mayonnaise
- 2-4 ripe tomatoes chunked
- torn basil
- asiago cheese and fontina cheese for the top
- salt and pepper to taste
Cut the loaf of bread in half and take out some of the soft white interior, just a bit. Spread with a thin layer of mayo. Place chunked tomatoes over bread to cover, then salt and pepper to taste. Tear basil and add as much as you'd like on top. Sprinkle asiago cheese thinly over top, then fontina. Broil in oven until cheese is bubbly. Let cool and cut into wedges. Mmmmmmm!
Have a great week, the meadolarks
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This page last updated on 8/22/2006.
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