Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Our own tomatoes are ripening - finally - and we'll hit the market with
them Monday. We did the old taste test with one of our Fiorentinos and a
ripe Brandywine from the grower next to us at market, and I swear the
Fiorentino had more flavor.   Barb seems to agree. They'll go for $3-4 lb.
Sure to make up for a lousy day last market. We'll take about four dozen
and sell out in 30 minutes. We have enough coming along to keep selling
into October, enough to pay off the greenhouse materials and more. Now if
that tropical depression will just bring us some rain.

So time for this article from the U.K.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
------------------------------------------

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/foodanddrink/hughfearnleywhittingstall/s

tory/0,,2150018,00.html
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Saturday August 18, 2007
The Guardian

It's tomato time, so get stuck into the glut and lay down a little summer
sweetness for autumn and winter. You'll never open a tin of peeled plums
again


Bad things have been done to the tomato over the years. Individuality has
been suppressed. Conformity has been insisted upon. Aspects central to the
tomato's very being - flavour, ripeness, juiciness - have been cast aside
in favour of shelf life and regularity of shape. Pick up the standard
supermarket specimen, and you could be forgiven for thinking it was
developed for playing beach cricket with, rather than for including in your
summer salads.


Those who grow their own tomatoes know how different they can be from the
Dutch bouncers - so depressingly familiar as the wet and slimy element of a
badly made sandwich. Even the standard "eight to a pound" varieties, such
as Moneymaker and Ailsa Craig, will, in a greenhouse or polytunnel (or even
in a sheltered, sunny corner of the garden), reach a peak of balanced
sweetness and acidity if they're left to ripen fully on the vine.

But it's the cherry tomatoes and beefsteaks where the real excitement lies.
The sweetest of the cherries - the one that reminds you that the tomato is,
of course, a fruit - is the little orange Sungold. The gardener's best-kept
secret for a decade or more, and beloved of a few enlightened farmers'
market growers, too, it's now creeping into the supermarkets. Buy it
wherever you see it. The world will be a happier place if it seriously
catches on. (Some may even find it too sweet, in which case go for
Gardener's Delight or Nectar.)

A good beefsteak tomato should weigh in at well over a pound, so that one
will easily feed two - thickly sliced, trickled with good olive oil and
sprinkled with salt and pepper. Chives and basil are nice, but by no means
essential. The Brandywine varieties - some orange, some pink, some red,
some purple - are the best, their intense flavour and juiciness living
headily up to their name.

Once you've tasted real, ripe, full-flavoured tomatoes, you won't want to -
won't be able to - go back to the rubber balls. And once you've cooked with
them, you won't want to open another tin of peeled plums, either. I grow as
many tomatoes as I can cram into the greenhouse, and I relish the glut.
Bring it on - it means I can lay down some summer sweetness for my autumn
and winter pleasure.

I do this by roasting huge trays of tomatoes, of all shapes and sizes, with
garlic, olive oil and a few herbs, then rubbing them through a sieve. The
resulting "passata" is stashed in the freezer - if we can resist using it
straight away, that is - and is then used over the colder months as a
fantastic base for, or addition to, any number of improvised soups, stews
and pasta sauces. It's also the first step towards the best ketchup you'll
ever taste.

In fact, it's so delicious and versatile that, when you discover a source
of properly tasty, sun-ripened toms, it's well worth buying yourself a glut
of them to make it with.

Roast sieved tomatoes

Here's the basic procedure, but do vary the amounts of garlic and herbs to
suit your own taste. Makes about a litre.

At least 2kg ripe, full-flavoured tomatoes - use different varieties and a
mixture of sizes, all cut in half

2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

A few sprigs fresh thyme and marjoram (optional, but preferable)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Arrange the tomato halves -
tightly packed but not on top of each other - in an ovenproof dish. Mix the
garlic with the oil and trickle evenly over the tomatoes. Season lightly
with salt and pepper, and throw in the herbs, if using.

Roast for 45-60 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft, pulpy and slightly
charred. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve, discard the skins and seeds,
and that's it - your sauce is ready to use.

Roast tomato ketchup

Another one where the spice mix is yours to customise - but please don't
kill off the essential tomatoeyness of it. Makes about a litre.

1 litre roast tomato sauce (see preceding recipe)

100g soft brown sugar

100ml cider vinegar

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp ground black pepper

Pinch of ground mace

Pinch of cayenne pepper

½ tsp ground allspice

½ tsp ground coriander

2 bay leaves

Put the tomato sauce into a large saucepan and add all the other
ingredients. Cook over a low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.
Simmer gently, stirring frequently so the mixture doesn't stick, for about
45 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced, thick and rich - it doesn't have
to be as thick as bottled ketchup, though. Taste and adjust the flavour as
necessary with a little more salt, sugar, cayenne pepper or vinegar. Leave
to cool, then pour into sterilised bottles and seal. The ketchup will keep
in the fridge for up to four weeks.

Tomato and anchovy pasta sauce

It's not what you'd call subtle, but it is one of the most delicious pasta
sauces I know. Serves four.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

50g tin anchovies in oil, drained and finely chopped

500ml roast tomato sauce (see recipe above)

50ml double cream

Extra-virgin olive oil, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion
and fry gently until soft but not coloured. Add the anchovies, stir and
cook for five to 10 minutes, letting the fish soften and 'melt' into the
onions.

Stir in the roast tomato sauce and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, until
slightly reduced and thickened. Stir in the cream, bring back to a simmer,
taste and season as necessary (don't forget that the anchovies will have
contributed a fair bit of salt to the dish).

Toss immediately into hot, freshly cooked spaghetti or tagliatelle, and
serve with a trickle of extra-virgin olive oil over the top.

· hughfearnleywhittingstall

· Learn how to make jams, jellies and pickles from all kinds of fruit and
veg on the River Cottage Preserved course. Go to rivercottage.net for more
details.