April Cravings and a Midsummer's Tomato Dream...
- Katherine Spilka
- Apr 10
- 4 min read
In this newsletter
Dreaming of tomatoes...
The best sourdough bread
CSA member feature
Store Highlights
Farming fun fact of the day
Dreaming of tomatoes...
Kat here, your friendly neighbourhood farmstore manager!
Anyone else finding themselves dreaming of tomatoes right about now? I've worked on farms for ten years and I just can't bring myself to buy a grocery store tomato in the winter. Not to be a farm snob but they're just so... blah. You know what I mean? Nothing compares to the complex, bright rich unmami flavours of a fresh in season tomato grown in soil. The texture, the colour, the juiciness.
Don't get me wrong, I love our fresh greenhouse winter greens but I'm really starting to crave tomato mayo toast - a suitable snack/meal for any time of day. Seriously. I'll eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A slice of fresh local organic sourdough from Boulangerie Marcel, a thin layer of mayo, a couple slices of farm fresh tomatoes, basil leaves, and pinch of salt and pepper.
Before I became a farmer, I would eat my "toast tomate mayo"(as we say in Quebec) any time of year but there's something truly fulfilling about appreciating and savouring the preciousness of seasonal produce.
My favourite part of our Summer CSA program (our weekly/biweekly veggie box subscription) is the extent of our tomato season. Our electric heated greenhouses give us a tomato harvest from early June to October. That means our tomatoes make it into the second or third box of the season if not the first box June 12th.
Customized CSA boxes from 2024
Is this at all relatable? Are you craving summer tomatoes too? Signing up for our Summer CSA is a perfect way to secure your access to fresh, organic, local tomatoes from June to October. The program runs from June 12th to October 31st so you'll definitely enjoy an abundance of our juicy farm fresh tomatoes. From our cherry tomatoes (Sunpeach, Sakura and orange Torinjiina) to our slicers (Beorange, Caiman, Pink ID) the variety of flavours and colours is a real treat!
Customized CSA boxes from 2024
And if you're part of the crew who dislikes tomatoes (an obvious flaw I'll forgive...), fret not! The greenhouses also provide us with an extended sweet pepper, eggplant, green bean, lettuce, and basil harvest. Plus, since our boxes are customizable you can order the items you really love. No tomatoes for you! (and more for me mouhahah...)
*don't forget, we offer unlimited vacation holds so you can pause your subscription when you're away. This year the first three are free, but there will be a small admin fee for any after three.
The best Sourdough bread
If you're also a tomato mayo toast fanatic like me, our sourdough subscription is super convenient. When you sign up for our weekly or biweekly CSA share you can also sign up for a weekly delivery of local organic sourdough bread baked that morning. It's such a relief to have an automatic delivery. One less thing to think about during my week! Every day in the farmstore, customers rave to me about how much they love Devon's bread. We are really fortunate to partner up with Boulangerie Marcel who also deliver incredible baked goods to the farmstore.
CSA member feature
I am constantly impressed and inspired by the online community we have on our CSA Facebook page. I learn so much from all of you! Check out this recipe for tomato butter shared by Krista. I will definitely try this one in the hopes of satisfying my winter tomato cravings!
Store Highlights
The farmstore is open Thursday and Friday from 11h-5h and Saturdays from 10h-3h (extended hours coming in June!). Pop by for our freshly harvested spinach, salad mix, arugula, kale, green onion, sorrel, tatsoi, and bok choy. The fresh herbs are just around the corner and we still have an abundance of delightful root veggies. All of our other store products are Canadian so you can have peace of mind that you're supporting the local economy when you shop with us. Fresh bread every day and baked goods on Saturdays. We love catching up with you so don't be shy!
Farming Fun Fact of the Day
Tomatoes are highly susceptible to disease so they are a tricky one to grow but you can cut half the plant off and stick another variety on top and miraculously they'll fuse and grow. This process is called grafting and it help us grow stronger crops. We select the top fruiting plant for flavour and disease resistance and the bottom graft for even more disease resistance and increased yield. Plants are so weird...
As it happens we're planting the tomatoes in the greenhouse today!! We expect to get our first harvest in 8 weeks, the first week of June!
Have I mentioned I can't wait??
Well that's it for now!
Happy Spring all!
Kat and the Roots and Shoots Farm Team
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