Mark your calendar to join us next Saturday, September 11th, for our 8th Annual Tomato Festival.  This is one of our favorite days of the year here at FG, as we celebrate our favorite summertime vegetable….or is it a fruit?  As in past years, we will gather together as many varieties of locally-grown tomatoes and organize them by type, so that you can sample them side by side to determine our favorites.  People are always blown away by the differences in color and texture and taste – we always think a tomato is a tomato is a tomato; but when you sample them like this you really appreciate the subtle differences.  And you will find favorites!!  This is a great way to figure out what you would like to grow next year.

There will be LOTS going on:

• 9am – noon – Enter the Tomato Contest – bring in your entries and register to win.
• 11am – 4 pm ~ free sampling of tomatoes – vote for your favorites.
• 11am ~ Chef Dan Brophy will cook up tasty tomato recipes – samples and recipes to take home.
• 1pm ~ Tomato Talk ~ Learn the secrets to growing the best tomatoes in our region, and strategies to get them to ripen in a cool wet year.
• 2pm ~ Chef Dan returns for a second session of new recipes to feature – more sampling and recipes.
• 3:45pm ~ Judging of Tomato Contest and awarding of prizes.

Admittedly, this has been a poor year for tomatoes – I really feel for farmers when weather wrecks havoc with their harvests.  I guess it is important to have this reality check from time to time; to remember that there are strategies we can implement that will help us achieve ripe tomatoes.  Things like using Walls-o-Water, which warms the soil and protects the plant from cool night temperatures.  Using plastic mulch around tomato plants to heat the soil.  Cutting out excess foliage.  Selecting varieties that have a shorter maturation time.  We’ll be talking about these and more at our Tomato Talk – hope you’ll join us!

And sometimes it is just a good idea to be a realist and decide to cut your losses.  If that is you, and you are ready to part with this year’s tomato vines, then we can help you get a fall garden going – we’ll have a full display at the tomato festival of great fall veggies you might want to try this year.  We’re here to help.

I hope to see you all at the Tomato Festival!

Attention all vegetable gardeners:  We’re bringing a new element to our fantastic Tomato Festival – a contest!  We know how it is with home gardeners – we all want bragging rights for what we do.   This friendly contest is meant to encourage you all to show off your harvests, even if they have been less than stellar this year due to weather issues.  We are especially encouraging children to take part!  So start babying that huge tomato still on the vine, and bring it in next Saturday - details below.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Contest Details 

• 9 am – noon ~ Drop off your entries and register 
• 3:45 pm ~ Announcement of winners

Gardeners need not be present to win.  Tomatoes must come from your own garden, must be ripe, and not frozen or previously frozen.

 Categories

• Best in Show (taste)
• Biggest in Show (weight)
• Ugliest Tomato
• Prettiest/Most Perfect Tomato
• Best Cherry
• Best Salsa

Prizes

First place in each category will win a Farmington Gardens Gift Card. 

Second and third place winners in each category will be awarded FG certificates good for tomato starts in 2011 season.

 Each child will receive a special certificate of participation.

Tomato Contest Criteria

Flavor: The perfect tomato should have a strong tomato taste, be slightly acidic, juicy and fresh tasting with a tender skin.

Firmness/Slicing Quality: A desirable tomato should have a dense uniform thick wall with many seed cavities, completely filled with a jelly-like mass. The firmness of the tomato should be such that it will bruise if dropped, yet is not over-ripe or soft.

Exterior Color: The winning tomato has a uniform color, is free of green shoulders and has no evidence of blotchy ripening.

Shape: Tomatoes come in different shapes and sizes, depending on the variety. Their shape should be symmetrical, but most important, the tomatoes in each entry should be uniform in size.

Are you all sick of hearing about tomatoes yet?  This’ll be quick – folks always want to know what the favorites were at our annual tomato festival, so here they are, listed in descending order of votes.  Sungold and Cherokee Purple were by far the crowd favorites, and tomatoes I would personally recommend you try growing at home.  Sungold is a prolific cherry, with a sweet and fruity flavor.  Cherokee Purple is a large heirloom with a rich tomato flavor and a deep red-purple color with green shoulders.  Both are great additions to the summer garden.

Now this recipe is super yummy.  I will definitely be making this one when I want something warm and spicy this winter.  It will be great with chapati bread, and a yogurt/cucumber salad.

Chole (Curried Chick Peas)

Serves 6

 2 cups                    cooked chick peas, canned or soaked and simmered

4 Tbsp                    oil or butter

½                             red onion, minced

2 cups                    tomato, peeled, seeded, chopped or canned diced

1 clove   garlic, smashed, peeled and minced

2 tsp                       ginger, peeled and minced

2 fresh                   green chilies, chopped and minced

1                              bay leaf

½ tsp                      cayenne

¼ tsp                      tumeric

½ tsp                      cumin, ground

2 tsp                       garam masala

2 tsp                       amchoor powder

2 Tbsp                    cilantro leaves, chopped

TT                           salt, pepper and cayenne pepper

1                              lime, cut into 6 wedges for garnish

 Heat butter or oil in wok or heavy pan. Add chili and onions. Fry until golden. Add ginger and garlic, cook until fragrant.  Add tomatoes. Let reduce about 15 minutes. Add spices except for cilantro. Cook for another 5 minutes.  Add chick peas. Simmer. Reduced until fairly dry or add water/stock and serve soup.

 Serve with rice or whole wheat tortilla. Garnish with cilantro and limes

Aren’t we having some great tomato-ripening weather?!  I’m hopeful we can get them all ripe before winter arrives – the race is on.  And just a reminder: if your tomatoes look as thick with foliage as this one pictured, you really need to grab your clippers and start trimming away some of those leaves – you should be able to see some daylight through the plant.  The tomato plant doesn’t need all these leaves now, and you really need to expose the green tomatoes to light and air.  Trust me; it seems like a totally brutal thing to do, to cut off so much of the foliage, but you will be rewarded if you do!

I promised you a recipe a day until we covered them all from this week’s Tomato Festival.  This Arugula Pesto Couscous and Sundried Tomatoes was really yummy.  Very garlicy.  You could ad lib this recipe in lots of different ways; Chef Dan gave us permission to get creative!

Arugula Pesto Couscous and Sun-dried tomato

 Make pesto. Set aside.  Sauté tomatoes in olive oil.  Season. Cook Couscous. Lightly toss all components together. Serve immediately.

 Pesto:

 2 cups    arugula leaves    

3 cloves   garlic, minced                                     

1 Tbsp    fresh lemon juice                                               

1/4 cup   extra virgin olive oil                                            

1/2 tsp    salt                                                                         

1/2 tsp    freshly ground black pepper            

 1 cup      sun-dried tomatoes, drained, if in oil

2 Tbsp    olive oil

TT           salt and pepper

 Couscous:

 1 1/2 part liquid: 1 part grain

 Bring liquid (water, stock, etc) to a boil.  Add instant couscous, stir thoroughly, cover tightly, turn off heat.  Let stand covered for 10 minutes.  Fluff, season and serve or hold for service.

Chef Dan

For those of you who didn’t make it to our tomato festival, all I’ve got to say is, I’m sorry you missed all the great smells!  Chef Dan Brophy from the Oregon Culinary Institute cooked up some fantastic tomato recipes.  I’ll post one a day till we get all five out there to you. 

This creole sauce was very fragrant, and a little spicy with cayenne. 

Creole Sauce

Yield: 8 cups

2 cups                    onion, diced

2 cups                    celery, diced

2 cups                    bell pepper, red, green or mixed, diced

4                              garlic cloves, smashed, peeled, diced

¼ cup                     olive oil

2 quarts peeled, seeded, diced tomatoes (substitute canned, if necessary)

1 cup                      water

2                              bay leaves

1 teaspoon            fresh thyme leaves removed from stem

6 Tbsps  parsley, chopped

0-1 Tbsp                cayenne pepper

TT                           salt and black pepper

 Option:   1 Tbsp corn starch for thickening

 Saute onions, celery, peppers in olive oil. After they start to tenderize, add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes or so. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add remaining herbs and spices. Everything except corn starch. Simmer for about 1 hour. Thicken, if desired.  Traditionally served with chicken, shrimp or fish.

Remember to join us this Saturday, September 12th, for some tasty bites! 

We’re putting the finishing touches on our tomato festival – scouring the state to bring you the tastiest and best varieties of tomatoes to sample!  They’ll all be locally grown – whatever is ripe and available this week is what we’ll have on hand.  This is a free tasting, and we encourage you to take notes of your favorites, so that you’ll remember what you want to grow next year.  As usual, we will have great handouts so you will take home tons of useful information.

Here is a reminder of what we have planned ~

• Free tomato tasting.  We group similar types together, so you can sample them side by side.   Tasting table will be open at 11 AM until 4 PM.
• 11 AM – Chef Dan Brophy cooks up tomato recipes – taste samples!  Chef Dan, from the Oregon Culinary Institute, has been cooking up tomato recipes here since we began our festival, and his concoctions always get rave reviews.  He will also send you home with his recipes.
• 1 PM – Tomato Talk – Want to know which varieties have been the festivals’  favorites over the years?   We will cover the crowd fav’s, as well as how to grow your own, and which are the best varieties for this climate.  A few tricks of the trade, and you will be well on your way to growing tasty tomatoes of your own next year.
• 2 PM – Chef Dan returns for a second cooking segment – more great samples and more recipes!
• Red Ridge Farms local olive oil tasting throughout the day.

We hope you can join us for this fun celebration of  The Tomato!

Tomato plant in our demo garden

Hopefully by now you know all about our upcoming Tomato Festival, on Saturday September 12th - one of our most fun days around here!  This is a great chance to sample literally dozens of varieties of tomatoes, side by side, to see which you like best.  You will be surprised to find how different they really are.

We invite you to sit down and take a break from all that sampling at 1 pm, when we will have our ‘Tomato Talk’.  Tony and Celina will be teaching this class, and will share lots of tips for growing the best tomatoes in your own backyard, as well as our staff and tomato festival favorites over the years.   It is always a very popular class.

This is another free class and registration is not needed – hope to see you there!

Everyone, it seems, is interested in living local.  And for more and more Oregonians, that means growing more of their own food and preserving it for winter dining.  It doesn’t get more local than that.   I am seeing classes all over town lately on this topic – my grandmother would be so excited about this trend!

In this vein, we are offering a new class on this very topic.  Chef Dan Brophy from the Oregon Culinary Institute will be here to talk about the many ways of putting food by — canning, drying, infusions, root cellaring.  Since most people are just a little intimidated by canning, he will spend the most time there, walking us through the actual canning process from start to finish.   We love having Chef Dan here – he is terrific about explaining the how’s and why’s; I am confident you will go away knowing what you need to know.  And once you know the basics, you will be free to get creative with your harvest!

Preserving the Harvest with Chef Dan Brophy

Sunday, September 13th, 1-3 pm

Space will be limited for this FREE class, and registration is required;  please call us to reserved your spot:  503-649-4568.

Our annual Tomato Festival is coming soon – one of our favorite days of the year!  This free event originated as a way to celebrate the wonderful diversity of America’s favorite.  No longer must we be resigned to hard, tasteless, storebought tomatoes – we can grow dozens of flavorful, colorful varieties right in our own gardens.  Come taste for yourself the differences between Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Sun Gold and dozens of others – and discover your own favorites.  We provide lists to make note of your favorites, so you will know what to grow next season.  (Do you know that Farmington Gardens sells over 100 different varieties of tomato starts each spring?  We have become known as a favorite destination for veggie shoppers in the region!). 

Here is what we have planned ~

• Free tomato tasting, over 80 varieties, all locally grown.  We group similar types together, so you can sample them side by side.   Tasting table will be open at 11 AM until 4 PM.
• 11 AM – Chef Dan Brophy cooks up tomato recipes – taste samples!  Chef Dan, from the Oregon Culinary Institute, has been cooking up tomato recipes here since we began our festival, and his concoctions always get rave reviews.  He will send you home with his recipes.
• 1 PM – Tomato Talk – Want to know which varieties have been the festivals’  favorites over the years?   We will cover the crowd fav’s, as well as how to grow your own, and which are the best varieties for this climate.  A few tricks of the trade, and you will be well on your way to growing tasty tomatoes of your own next year.
• 2 PM – Chef Dan returns for a second cooking segment – more great samples and more recipes!
• Red Ridge Farms local olive oil tasting throughout the day. www.redridgefarms.com  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  
  

Le Tour des Plants is fast becoming an annual regional event that gardeners have come to anticipate.  Participating independent garden centers plan interesting classes, demonstrations, and special give-aways to celebrate the fall garden season.  Did you know that  Fall is The Best Time to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials?  Well, it is — the soil is still warm and  nurturing and, combined with the autumn rains, plants have a much easier time getting established.  In Oregon we are blessed with long mild autumns, so it is still a rich and abundant time in the garden. 

Stop in and pick up your free official program - complete with maps, schedule of events, and passport.  In order to participate in the Le Tour drawing for some fabulous prizes, you will want to get your passport stamped at each garden center you visit during Le Tour.  The more you visit, the higher value prizes you are eligible for!   Top prize is valued at over $600.

Le Tour des Plants runs September 12 -20.  Here is what we have going on at Farmington Gardens – we hope you will stop by and say hello!

All Week - Hot New Plants from Terra Nova – Check out our week-long showcase of exciting new perennials from Terra Nova Nursery.

 Saturday, September 12 — 11 AM – 4 PM     7^th Annual Tomato Festival

• Free tomato tasting, over 80 varieties, all locally grown
• 11 AM – Chef Dan Brophy cooks up tomato recipes – taste samples!
• 1 PM – Tomato Talk – learn how to grow your own, and which are the best varieties for this climate
• 2 PM – Chef Dan returns for a second cooking segment – more great samples!
• Red Ridge Farms local olive oil tasting throughout the day
• Check our website for all the day’s activities

 Sunday, September 13  1 PM – 3 PM     Preserving the Harvest, with Chef Dan Brophy from the Oregon Culinary Institute

Take advantage of the abundant harvest – from your own garden or the farmer’s market!  Chef Dan Brophy, of the Oregon Culinary Institute, will show you how easy it is to preserve food for the winter.  He will have information on dehydration, root cellars, and infusions, but will focus most of his time on the art and science of canning.  Once you master these techniques, your family will truly be living local, in a sustainable and healthy way!  Space is limited and registration required; call 503-649-4568.  Free class.

 Friday, September 18     1 PM;  $35      Green and Edible Wall Art, with Landscape Designer Lisa Annand

During this hands-on workshop, you will construct a beautiful vertical garden – your choice of edibles or succulents.  This thoroughly chic “green wall art” would look great on a deck, handy for picking and enjoying!  Space is limited and registration required; call 503-649-4568.

 Saturday, September 19    3 PM; $10     Girlfriends’ Afternoon Getaway  ~ Awesome Au Courant Fall Container Gardens, with Laura Nash and Marinda Parks from Farmington Gardens

Grab your best friend or your mom, and join us for a gardening afternoon.  Enjoy nibblies and a glass of sparkling wine while Laura and Doris inspire you with their container garden creations!  You will leave with “recipe cards” for each of their collections, as well as lots of trendy ideas for fall containers.  Space is limited and registration required; call 503-649-4568.

 Sunday, September 20    1 PM     Great New Perennials for Your Garden

Larry Finley from Terra Nova Nursery will introduce us to some fantastic new perennials.  Larry offers a very entertaining discussion about where these plants originated; how Terra Nova developed them for commercial markets; and most importantly, how best to use them in your own garden.  Class registration is limited to 50 – please call 503-649-4568 to sign up.  As an added bonus, Larry will bring a special gift for everyone in the class!

 Specials

•  One free 1 gal Terra Nova Coreopsis ‘Autumn Blush’ or ‘Gold Nugget’ with purchase of any 1 gal or larger Terra Nova merchandise.  One per customer please.  While supplies last!
• 50% off regular priced select containers and container gardens.  While supplies last!