By AJ
I am really hopeful for our tomato crop this year. I'm obsessed with growing them, working with them and, of course, eating them.
They are coming on in the high tunnels very quickly!
We are trying a couple new things with them this year, from trellising to a calcium experiment.
Calcium experiment, you say?
One thing we struggle with is our soils ability to hold calcium and once plants start their reproductive phase, they want calcium.
Eggshells are a popular calcium people use at home, but the calcium in the eggshells isn't bio-available for the plants.
So, we found a recipe for extracting the calcium from the abundance of eggshells we have. And all you need is eggshells and vinegar!
We toast and clean the eggshells and add them to vinegar and they immediately start bubbling and brewing. you leave them to mingle in a jar (or whatever) with a cheesecloth over the top to let it breathe. Leave it for a week or so, until it has stopped bubbling. At that point the calcium is extracted from the eggshells and you can strain out the vinegar and be diluted into your production-stage plants.
We've used it on our tomatoes and strawberries and i'm looking forward to seeing the results.
Ask me for the recipe if you want to try it at home!
Pick List:
Eggs
Fresh garlic
Cortland Yellow Onions
Rhonda Beets
Hakeuri Turnips
Pink Beauty Radishes
Emiko Napa Cabbage
Old Growth Palm and Rainbow Lacinato Kale
Champion Collards
Parade Scallions
Magenta and Buttercrunch Lettuce
Regiment Spinach
Esmee arugula
Parsley, Basil, Cilantro, and Dill
Albion Strawberries
Tea Blends and Ground and Whole Chiles (Please bring your own containers!)
Sonora wheat flour and wheat berries
Pick your own flowers and herbs (mostly in the herb garden and perennial field right now)
Saltonstall Olive Oil (Please bring your own jars!)
Starts available in the shade tunnel (Please only take starts from area in between the two signs!)
Strawberry Sumac Cake, from nytimes.com
FOR THE STRAWBERRIES:
1 cup chopped hulled strawberries (1-inch pieces), plus 1 cup strawberries, halved
1 teaspoon ground sumac
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
FOR THE CAKE:
1 cup/240 milliliters plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups/256 grams flour
1 cup/152 grams stone-ground yellow cornmeal
½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1 cup/200 grams plus 2 tablespoons/25 grams granulated sugar
½ cup/120 milliliters half-and-half
¼ teaspoon ground sumac
Prepare the strawberries: Combine the chopped strawberries, sumac, sugar and almond extract in a small bowl and set aside to macerate, a process of letting the berries soften and release their juices.
Meanwhile, prepare the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan or springform pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking soda and baking powder to combine. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a medium bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the eggs and 1 cup/200 grams sugar on medium-high speed until very pale and light yellow in color, about 3 minutes. The mixture should thicken and make ribbons that slowly lose their shape when they fall off the whisk attachment. With the mixer on high speed, slowly add the remaining 1 cup/240 milliliters olive oil and beat until everything is combined.
Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly begin adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions, adding the half-and-half in between additions. Mix until just combined. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the diced strawberries and their liquid. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Arrange the halved strawberries on the top.
Bake for 50 to 65 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the cake is becoming too brown before the center has set, cover loosely with foil.
In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons/25 grams sugar with the sumac. Sprinkle the cake with the sumac sugar while still slightly warm.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Turn the cake out of the pan onto the rack or release the springform ring and remove it. (If using a standard cake pan, some sugar may fall off of the cake. Use parchment or wax paper to catch any stray sugar and sprinkle back over the cake.) Let cool completely before serving. Store leftover cake in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 1 day (or refrigerate up to 4 days).