T-Shirts! Tomatoes! Market Help NEEDED!

Hello Friends!

Guess who’s NOT using dial-up anymore? That’s right … the high-tech Davisons at the Blue Schoolhouse Farm. We’re flying high with our new wireless connection, downloading YouTube videos and checking out all of the other memory-intensive things that we’ve been “missing” on the internet for all these years. I’m afraid Bill may not have time to farm anymore now that he’s connected to the rest of the world at a reasonable speed. Ha ha! And now that we have the speedy connection, we can attach photos with ease. Instead of taking 25 minutes to attach one photo, I was able to stick in these VERY ATTRACTIVE photos of Ben (top) and Noah (bottom) in about 2 minutes.

I have three news items for you …

1. T-SHIRTS! We’re selling t-shirts with the farm logo on the front. The shirts are 100% organic cotton and cost $15. We have a women’s and a men’s style – the women’s has a more feminine neckline and shorter sleeves. The men’s is very masculine. Ha ha.

2. HELP AT THE MARKET STAND! Our awesome new assistant, Kanna, is going on a family vacation this holiday weekend. The nerve! Just kidding. He’s been a great help and really helps the stand run much better in the early hours of the market. Have you noticed? We actually have produce in the crates for the first two hours while we still manage to sell food. (Previously, we’d either leave customers high and dry, holding dripping wet lettuce while we tried to stuff more food into the emptying crates OR we’d just keep selling and people would have no idea what was being sold from the empty crates. QUESTION: Would you like to help us this Saturday?? We really need help from about 7:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. The first hour is the most critical, so even just an hour from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. would help. The benefit is that you’d get first dibs on the produce, and we’d give you a free bag of food. And, of course, you’d get to hang out with us – that’s reason enough, right? And don't worry -- working for us once does not mean we'll be bugging you all season.

3. TOMATOES! That’s right, the first tomatoes of the season. There won’t be that many, as we’re just picking them from the small greenhouse. It’s the “Stupice” variety, which does well for us every year. It’s a great, medium-size heirloom tomato hailing from the Czech Republic. Remember that tomatoes DO NOT like to be cold – don’t put them into the fridge unless you want to greatly reduce the flavor. Here’s our absolute favorite thing to do with ‘maters …

Tomato salad
(Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters)

Simply chunk up some ripe tomatoes. (We halve the cherry tomatoes.) Moisten with balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle generously with olive oil. Mix gently. Excellent additions include croutons, slivered fresh basil, avocado, red onion, corn, fresh mozzarella, cucumbers, and small pieces of broccoli. This healthy and delicious dish can be made in about 10 minutes, and is best eaten fresh. (The texture gets funny if refrigerated and eaten the next day, but it can be done.) We eat this every day!

This recipe is infinitely variable with additions and subtractions to your heart’s content. Let us know what you like to do with it on the blog as a “comment”! (Note that you don’t have to “register” to leave a comment. You can just hit the button for “anonymous.” That’s what I do when I leave comments on the Mitchells’ blog site!)

We think this Saturday is going to be a fabulous market weekend!! The weather will be perfect, and many people are staying at home (for a “staycation”) to avoid the high price of gas. There is an up side to that – all the more time to relax and enjoy a nice barbecue/cookout with friends and family. Not to get started on a diatribe about modern life, but there is something positive to be had with a forced slow-down of the fast-paced American life.

As a recap, here’s what we’re bringing:

Head Lettuce
Beets (Traditional, Golden, and Chioggia)
Garlic Scapes (LAST WEEK!)
Kale
Kohlrabi
Broccoli
Collard Greens
Parsley
Swiss Chard
Japanese Turnips (white and pink)
Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Carrots

Please let your friends know about the blog. We plan to put out the email sign-up sheet during the market season again. Call us at 467-9228 or email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com if you have questions.

Thanks!
Mercy Davison