Late Season Tomato Harvest

Often by this time of the year, we've had a killing frost. But in 2010, we have sailed into the autumn with above average temperatures after a couple of nights in the mid-30s.
On the Metzger Farm, our tomato harvest continues as evidenced by the bounty on the kitchen counter! I've canned and frozen the excess but we still have beautiful tomatoes available for at least a couple more days.
We were seduced by the glossy pictures in the seed catalogs in January and ordered many varieties of heirloom tomato seeds. When I panicked and thought my little plants might not yield the harvests I wanted, I took a trip to Ithaca to find organically-grown plants to add to the stock.
We have many varieties still available - some of which are pictured here. The biggest tomato is Rose. There are also Black Krim, Black From Tula, Green Zebra and Early Girls pictured.
If you'd like to try any of these, or need some more tomatoes for late-season canning, call or e-mail me soon.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

It's tomato time!
I have a new favorite way to made tomato sauce that concentrates the taste of the wonderful variety of tomatoes we've been enjoying this summer. It's a simple process and the kitchen smells wonderful while it's happening.
Roasted Tomato Sauce
Wash and core ripe tomatoes and cut into chunks of a uniform size. (I leave cherry tomatoes whole and cut the others in similar sizes). Spread the tomatoes in a roasting pan that's been coated with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and additional olive oil and stir. I add several cloves of garlic at this point. You may also add fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano. Roast in a 425 degree oven until thickened, stirring now and then. Keep an eye on the sauce because, at the end, the moisture tends to evaporate quickly. It can take a couple of hours depending on the moisture content of the tomatoes and the quantity you put in the pan. Let the sauce cool and then put it through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins. That's all there is to it. I've frozen it thus far but expect it could be jarred and processed in a pressure canner as well.
I plan to experiment with adding additional ingredients - like peppers, onions and other vegetables, and trying a batch with large amounts of garlic!
The Metzger Heritage Farm has tomatoes available - call us at 274-8004 or email to place your order (metzgerfarm@gmail.com). Remember that we've grown these beauties without chemical pesticides, using organic methods!

Potato Update

It was in the spring that I first posted a picture of grandson Rowan as his folks planted their first garden in Oregon. Here's Rowan enjoying the first harvest!
Here on Crandall Hill we've poked around the well-mulched mounds to find our own beautiful organic potatoes too! Last weekend Joseph took his grandmother up on the hill to the potato patch where they dug a half-bushel of red and white beauties. Grandma Wanda Metzger is one of those standing behind the heritage in the Metzger Heritage Farm.
We're taking orders for potatoes now and expect to begin harvest in the next couple of weeks. Our potatoes were grown from certified organic seed with no chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.

Garden Bounty

One customer of Metzger Heritage Farm enjoyed these fresh vegetables this week! We have good supplies of string beans (purple, wax, green) for a few more pickings. The late planting of green beans will be ready in early September (if the frost holds off). The pickling cucumbers are very prolific this year and we continue to pick them daily. There is also a good supply of Swiss chard, and zucchini. We have some crook-neck summer squash and carrots and will have lots of round zucchini in the next few days. If you'd like new potatoes (red or white), let us know and we'll dig some for you. Some have asked about sweet corn. We selected two varieties this year, one of which was completely consumed by foraging crows shortly after it was planted. The other variety is probably two or three weeks out.
If you'd like to share in the bounty, please call (814-274-8004) or e-mail (metzgerfarm@gmail.com), and place your order. We can arrange delivery or you may pick up at the farm.

Farmstand Now Open

The days move so quickly now that it's harvest season on the farm. Check out our farm stand! We're offering carrots, beets, chard, new potatoes, green, purple and yellow string beans, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers and lettuce. Remember, we can pick to your order if you need larger quantities. I also have a good number of round zucchinis that are perfect for stuffing. Recipes to follow.

Bring On The Beans

I love growing beans! They offer almost instant gratification with their big seeds and vigorous growth.
I snapped these photos of the soybeans and two varieties of "string" beans.
Last year I raised several different kinds of dried beans and saved the seed to plant this year.
I'm quite excited about the soybeans. They're a short season variety and some will be harvested as edamame, while others will be allowed to ripen and dry on the vine.
Ready now are green beans and purple beans (beautiful purple color which cooks to a deep green). Let me know if you'd like some. I have quantities suitable for eating and preserving.

Peas Ready Now!

Peas growing on tall trellises have a long tradition on this old farm on Crandall Hill. Though my (Jane's) tenure tending this patch of earth reaches only back to 1971, I have long appreciated hearing the loving recollections of those who can still see Grandpa Matteson out in the garden with his hoe and can hear the laughter of the women gathered on the front porch working at shelling peas still warm from the sun.
We're picking our 21st century peas daily and offering them for sale at $3 a pound. They're available at our makeshift roadside stand at 905 Dingman Run Road or call (274-8004) or e-mail (metzgerfarm@gmail.com) and we'll be happy to accommodate your needs. All the vegetables are grown without chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.
We also have Swiss Chard available now. Watch for some recipe suggestions in the next couple of days. We appreciate your interest in our soon-to-be-organic farm.