Aug
11
Cooking Without Abundant Tomatoes
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Cory Ramey writes about how several chefs are Living Without Abundant Tomatoes on Mark Bittman’s Bitten blog this afternoon.
My own cooking tends to the tomato-heavy, and I’m looking for ways to cope with the dearth of fresh, organic tomatoes and the concomitant high prices I’m certain are on the way.
We’re still hopeful that our crop can be saved. I’m going out to check them again this evening. My Soap-Shield should be here by the end of the week and that’ll hopefully buy us some more time if we do get it.
Aug
10
Red Beet Update
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Yesterday we opened a can of the beets I canned in this entry back on July 5th. Unfortunately, the syrup was entirely too sweet. I also think it could use a bit more vinegar.
I bought a bushel of Detroit red beets at the Bellefonte Farmer’s Market on Saturday and I’m going to can them. I’m going to change the recipe a bit, going with these proportions instead:
Pickled Beets (syrup)
3 c. sugar
3 c. water
2½ c. vinegar
If you’re following along at home, I hope you didn’t use that other recipe — unless you like your beets extra sweet — and will find this new one to be a vast improvement.
Aug
10
Dan Barber, chef and co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, had an Op-Ed about Late Blight in The New York Times on Saturday. In it, he laments the crop loss and points to a possible way forward, embracing both science and nature where we can, and the revitalization of the agricultural extension offices Congress set up a century ago.
Aug
10
Fighting Late Blight
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Late blight — Phytophthora infestans — better known as the cause of the Irish potato famine of the 1850s, has spread throughout Pennsylvania.
Every other gardener and farmer I know is suffering from Late Blight and expects to lose, or has already lost, most, if not all, of their tomato crop. We’re closely monitoring our own plants.
I’ve heard from friends in Philipsburg who lost most of their plants and salvaged only a few dozen tomatoes. I’ve heard of one farmer who lost 300 plants in a day. One of the gardeners at Penn State’s Community Garden tells me late blight has wiped out nearly everyone’s tomatoes there, too. We’ve now heard that Full Circle Farms has been hit as well.
We’re all hoping the Farm Tour, with its record turnout, hasn’t spread the disease even further afield, but with that many people walking around and moving between farms it is almost unavoidable.
We’re still fortunate to have healthy plants in our own garden. I have nonetheless ordered a bottle of Soap-Shield copper fungicide from Gardens Alive to be applied as a preventative measure. Organic gardeners are strongly encouraged to apply this or something similar before we see any lesions.
Aug
10
New Winery in Spring Mills
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Scott and Mary Ann Bubb are set to open their Seven Mountains Wine Cellars on Wednesday. This Spring Mills, PA, winery will be Centre county’s second, joining Mount Nittany Winery.
I’m hoping to make it out there in the next week or so, but might not get there until September, after the Grange Fair.
More information is available in the Centre Daily Times and on the winery’s website.
Aug
10
CDT Coverage of the Farm Tour
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Anne Quinn Corr offers a roundup of the areas we didn’t visit on the Farm Tour, covering the Nittany and Eagle Valley farms.
And here are two photos from our CSA farm, Full Circle Farms, after the fact.
Aug
10
Farm Tour Photos
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The weekend was full of busyness, and I’m behind on my writing, so the posts about the Farm Tour are not yet complete. In the meantime, enjoy these photos on Flickr.
In brief, we toured Sandy Ridge Farm, Demeter’s Garden, and Common Ground Farm, all in Spring Mills, PA. We ended the day at Full Circle Farms, where we stayed long enough to buy some lemonade and snacks from the Cooperative Preschool’s lemonade stand and to say hello to Sabina, Mattie, and Bear.
Aug
6
Hands-On at the Farm Tour
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Ed Mahon offered this preview of the Farm Tour in yesterday’s Centre Daily Times.
Aug
3
2009 Central PA Farm Tour Guide
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2009 Central PA Farm Tour Guide (pdf), courtesy of Voices of Central PA.
Aug
3
Coming This Month
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Here’s a preview of what I have planned for the next few weeks:
First up will be a review of the easyBloom plant sensor. I’ve been using one this past week and am quite happy with what I’m finding.
Next weekend is the 4th Annual PASA Farm Tour. I plan to attend and will bring you a few posts early next week.
I’m also working on a review of Make magazine Volume 18, which features several DIY automated gardening articles. Even though it has been out since May, I just picked up a copy this afternoon, so that will be later in the month.
I plan to round out the month with a series of posts from the 2009 Centre County Grange Fair, which this year carries over into September thanks to the late Labor Day holiday.
All of that, plus the ongoing quest to find red beets, a number of new recipes I’m trying, and the usual chronicling of the doings in our garden promise to make August a very busy month around here!
