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Tomato Spotlight:  Old Fashioned "Green Shouldered" TomatoesGreen shoulders are typical of some progressively-ripening heirloom tomatoes.  This means there is a bit of green remaining near the stem end of the fruit even when the tomato is completely ripe.  Because chlorophyll is present in the fruit, photosynthesis is happening within the fruit right until its picked-  therefore enhancing flavor and nutrient profile of the ripe tomato. This trait has been bred out of many modern varieties, but the flavor of these outstanding heirlooms with their little green shoulders is unbeatable!Check out:  'Black Brandywine', 'Orange Brandywine', 'Mortgage Lifter', 'Pink Brandywine', 'Red Vernissage', and 'Green...

Our ‘Struttgarter’ onions have an incredible shelf life! Not only are they deeply golden, with a tremendous flavor and oniony bite- they’re one of the longest keepers we’ve tried. Treat them right and you’ll have onions from harvest until April!Many onion varieties store quite well given the right conditions. Optimal onion storage can be achieved with just a few simple considerations.1. Preharvest dry down- Planning for onion storage begins at the end of the previous summer. Cut-off watering as soon as the outer four leaves begin to dry down after the onion has completed bulbing. Drying down starts at the...

Paper seed catalogs and seed packets are necessarily brief in their descriptions of crop varieties. I appreciate these descriptions when I need something quick and dirty, and there is a poetry to succinctly conveying the most important things about a variety in a short space. I'm surprised, though, that even with the advent of web-based seed catalogs and theoretically unlimited space, seed growers still don't provide more than a few sentences of description on the growing and eating particularities of varieties they sell. There could be a lot of reasons for this, a main one being that they simply don't...

Storing squash all winter long Early spring is famine time in many home gardens. Winter food storage is running out and spring crops are not yet. Not in our house! Ever since I started growing large amounts of winter squashes, its become a huge part of our lives, especially in early spring. Largely because we keep our winter squash in our living room its also become an unintended but welcome part of my identity. Visitors have come to expect dining in the midst of onlooking squashes of all shapes and sizes.   Storing winter squash is easier than fresh storage...

Drying corn for storage If you live in a dry climate like mine, corn can be air-dried for use as popcorn, flour corn, or seed. Allow the corn to dry down on the stock for as long as possible. I usually harvest mine before the first fall rain. The corn itself can be dried on the ear, but the husk can hold and attract moisture so much be removed before drying or risk the corn molding. Place on a wire or slatted table in a ventilated, preferably sunny area with enough space between the ears to allow about airflow. Check...