Good Bye Shanna

Sunday was Shanna’s last day guarding the farm. She died peacefully at the wise old age of 15. For years we joked that she would never die. She had too much to do and didn’t want to leave Nasta in charge. Nasta is Jesse and Jonnah’s spunky, much younger husky, raised and vigilantly kept in check by Shanna. Shanna came to this farm in the year 2000 as a vegetable guard dog. She and her companion Blue were partners in a five year DNR/USDA pilot project to determine if dogs (in the confines of an invisible fence) could keep hungry critters out of the vegetable fields and keep the vegetables free from damage. The project was a total success. Shanna’s life work included protecting her territory and being a best friend to every person who came to this farm. She always had a smile on her face and a sloppy kiss if you got close enough to her face. She loved Thursdays; she could greet members as they came to pick up their shares, get lots of attention and occasional treats. Shanna played soccer, yes pushed the ball around as good as any player on the field. She welcomed Oby, Becky and Brian’s dog, to the pack a few years ago. She was the alpha dog. Now the dogs and people she has left behind have to reorganize and go on without her. We miss you Shanna!

Barb

Shanna (left) and her companion Blue in 2004.

Shanna (left) and her companion Blue in 2004.

Shanna the amazing farm dog.

Shanna the amazing farm dog.

 

Introducing the Vermont Valley Tomato Family 

Orange Banana, Red Zebra, Pink Beauty, Estiva lower row: Garden Peach, Clementine, Indigo Cherry Drops, Japanese Trifele Black

Orange Banana, Red Zebra, Pink Beauty, Estiva
lower row: Garden Peach, Clementine, Indigo Cherry Drops, Japanese Trifele Black

Here are the tomato varieties you can expect to see in your share box from now until the frost. This should help you identify your tomatoes. Many of our tomatoes are Heirloom varieties. An Heirloom is an open pollinated variety that has been passed down for generations.

Garden Peach: These 2oz yellow fruits blush pink when ripe and have fuzzy skins somewhat like peaches. Soft skinned, juicy and very sweet. Light fruity taste is not what you would expect in a tomato.

Orange Banana: Long, orange paste-type tomato. Sweet and flavorful.

Red Zebra: A small red tomato overlaid with golden yellow stripes.

Estiva, Arbason, Geronimo (grown in the hoophouses) and Pink Beauty: Red slicing tomatoes with amazing flavor and texture.

Indigo Cherry Drops: A stunningly jet black, 1-2 oz. tomato with striking dark blue anthocyanin coloration over red flesh. When sliced it looks like a plum with its deep red flesh.

Japanese Trifele Black: A tomato that looks like a beautiful mahogany-colored Bartlett pear with greenish shoulders. A rich and complex flavor. Let it sit on your counter and get dark colored and soft before eating it.

Clementine: A round orange, 2 oz. tomato with sweet, tart flavor.

Cherry Tomatoes:  Yellow Mini, Sakura (red), Solid Gold, Black Cherry and six un-named varieties of red cherry tomatoes; the ones we are trialing for Johnny’s Selected Seeds. We mix them up for you.

Roma/Paste/Plum/Processing Tomatoes: These tomatoes are drier than most slicing tomatoes, making them perfect for cooking, drying, sauce and salsa making. We grow a mix of traditional red paste tomatoes and others with fascinating shape, size and color. Here are their names:  Granadero, Viva Italia, Tiren, Speckled Roman, Amish Paste, Federle, Opalka, Oxheart.  We invite you to come out to the farm to harvest your own Romas – U Pick details on our web site.

We aim to harvest our tomatoes just before they are vine-ripe. We do this so you don’t receive an over ripe tomato. But it also means that you may receive a tomato that needs to sit on your counter for a day or two before it is perfect to eat; heavy and quite soft. And when you do receive a very ripe tomato, eat it up.