Tag: Farm Life

Why Heirloom Tomatoes?

Heirloom varieties are all the rage, but are they really better?

Last week’s post discussed how the differences between determinate and indeterminate tomato plants. But what if you aren’t planting your own? How do you decide which type to choose? 

We prefer heirloom varieties.

First what is an heirloom tomato?

You may also see these referred to as “heritage” or “old time” tomatoes. These are the types that have been around for a very long time, as far back as the Aztecs and Incas. These are the varieties your grandparents would know and raise in their garden. Seeds from heirlooms can be saved to plant the next season and will produce tomatoes consistent with the variety. Non-heirloom or hybrid tomatoes will not produce from saved seeds.

Heirloom tomatoes are typically not those perfect globes found in mass market stores. They also have a shorter shelf life. 

Flavor. 

When we started the farm and began growing tomatoes, we conducted a taste test. We included a hybrid beefsteak tomato because of all the hype around those big red slicing tomato types like Better Boy. We lined up a slice from each with the variety name hidden and tasted. We quickly found our favorites. While the Better Boy had tomato flavor, it paled in comparison to the others. Our favorites were the German, which is a yellow tomato with a red stripes and Brandywine. These were bursting with full tomato flavor. We haven’t grown a hybrid since.

Your best bet to ensure a fresh, delicious, full-flavored tomato is to either grow your own or buy at a local farmer’s market. 

Five Feline Farm will be at the 18th Street Farmer’s Market all summer with tomatoes in season as well as other fresh produce. Stop by and see us. 

Do You Know Hoppin’ John?

Hoppin’ John is a simple dish of blackeyed peas over rice and sometimes greens. It is served with cornbread and traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day to bring good luck and prosperity. One saying goes “peas for pennies, greens for dollars and cornbread for gold”. It is as traditional as barbeque in the south.

My interest in the dish, other than the delicious flavor is how a “low brow” food becomes a tradition. This dish is so old and ingrained in the culture, no one knows who first combined these ingredients.

I imagine a cook scrounging up few ingredients in her larder with her only goal to creat a hot, filling meal. She pulled together bits of ham or boiled a ham bone, added the peas and let it cook in a pot hanging over the fire in her fireplace with only an occasional stir. She had no idea she was starting a prosperity revolution. She was trying to feed her family with cheap available ingredients.

Blackeyed peas are cheap and easy to grow. They dry and store well. Often seasoned with a ham hock or bits of leftover ham, broth, and maybe a few hot peppers. Rice grows in the hot humid climate of the American South. Before it was a commercial crop, farmers would scatter seed in areas that were swampy and could not be plowed. Each of these ingredients are on the low end of the cost spectrum or easily available.

It is also an easy dish to prepare. Essentially, rinse the peas, put in a pot with seasonings, water and cook on low until done. Serve over rice with slabs of cornbread.

Of course, to reduce the cooking time for this Thursday night meal, I am going to use the Instapot. In the time it takes to make the peas in the Instapot and cook the rice in the rice cooker; I will have cornbread in the oven.

Cornbread is the most involved part of this meal in my kitchen. I grind the corn in my Kitchen Aid grain mill just prior to mixing in the other ingredients for a true delicacy. The recipe and instructions are in Simply Delicious.

As for the name “Hoppin’ John”….I have no idea.

Planning Ahead

The menu challenge became really difficult this week. As in, couldn’t pull together a menu in advance, difficult.

There were so many tasks crammed into each day that I resorted to my old habit of planning one meal at a time. Even when I knew this would be the kind of week where a planned menu would have been helpful and possibly even save me from some stress. I commit to doing better next week.

Despite this momentary lapse on my part, there is still activity happening at the Farm toward future meal prep.

Gardening is the ultimate planning ahead.

Donna has been squeezing early spring vegetable planting into every spare moment of her day. Not that there are a lot of those spare moments, but because of her foresight, we have a tender green salad waiting in the refrigerator.

But that isn’t all.

Snap peas, radishes and spinach seeds, in addition to the leaf lettuce seeds, are nestled into dark rich soil. Tomatoes, peppers and herbs are growing in the greenhouse, just waiting for the threat of frost to pass. We will see the fruits of her labor on the table soon.

Taking a lesson about planning for the future, I believe I’ll start working on next week’s menu now.

You can keep up daily with Five Feline Farm activities by following us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Challenge is the Key Word

Have you found it challenging to plan meals in advance?

A couple of weeks ago, I issued a challenge on this blog and our social media accounts. I challenged our fans to follow along as I plan on Sunday for meals during the week ahead.

The first week found me in the kitchen making snack boxes and salad lunches. Each evening meal was designed in advance and posted on the kitchen wall. Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

Life happened. I changed some of the days around and one evening we just ate at a restaurant because of circumstances beyond our control.

This past Sunday, I did not plan as much ahead. I did not make cute snack boxes and salad lunches. I did post a menu for a “world tour” week of evening meals, each night with a different cuisine.

Life happened again.

Monday evening, I fixed Wednesday’s menu. Tuesday evening, I did just fine sticking to the plan. Wednesday should have hosted Monday’s meal, but I went off the rails with scrambled eggs and potato cakes.

How did that happen? Three days into the week and the plan is shot.

It’s all in the planning or lack thereof. I didn’t make a thoughtful shopping trip. I realized at the last minute I didn’t have all of the ingredients to make the Instapot Butter Chicken.

But you know what? It’s fine. I am giving myself grace and trying again tomorrow.

The menu challenge and planning ahead is worthwhile and fun. Let’s keep trying together. It may not always work out the way you hope. That’s ok.

Above all, be kind to yourself.