Homegrown Imperfection

There are several views here of an imperfect tomato from my garden.  Now to be completely honest, I would not buy this tomato out of the produce section of the super market.  Raising it myself, however; I feel completely comfortable cutting out the bad spot.

I know there are no chemical pesticides in my garden, so sometimes pests take a bite, before I catch them.  There are no chemical herbicides in my garden, so a certain level of diligence is required or the weeds will win.  I trust the integrity of my seeds company, so there are no GMOs in my garden, either, which again calls for due diligence in tending.  The vegetables in my garden don't kill weeds and pests!  That diligence of presence is what allows me to know what is going on with the produce I harvest and the food that goes on my table. I like the fresh vegetables, but even more importantly, I'm preserving nature the way our Creator created it.  I take this responsibility quite seriously.

Now, back to my little imperfect tomato.  I looked down one evening through chores and saw that bright red in the middle of the tomato cage.  I cage my tomatoes, rather than stake them or let them travel over the ground. The cage offers a little extra protection, just in case one my goats gains access and it keeps tomato picking from being back breaking work.  So I reached in and picked that pretty little tomato, then saw the bad spot.

I kept the stem on it so the various angles could be differentiated.  I weighed the little imperfect tomato and it weighed in at 5.56 ounces. Not large, but three to a pound isn't a bad size.  I weighed it though, so I could determine how much I lost when removing the blemish.   After removing the blemish, which was only a little more than skin deep, the tomato weighed 5.47 ounces.  Less that 0.10 of an ounce was inedible.  One tenth of an ounce is 3ml.

Homegrown, imperfect produce is still edible, usually.  Common sense and instinct will tell you if there appears to be a larger problem.  Usually the rest of the product is fine!

The thought always goes through my mind, as I am fully aware of the "food chain" in retail.  The absolute best is showcased, and the seconds are canned or used for juice or ingredients. As I considered the little bad spot on my imperfect tomato, I have no idea what the tomatoes looked like before they became ketchup or prepared sauces.  This imperfect little tomato would have never been seen in the fresh produce aisle, but it was truly delicious!

Timing is Everything

This year the produce has been anything but predictable.  The early things were late in my area, due to an unseasonably late frost and what would usually be mid June produce has made an amazing rally for a second round without replanting, so, although dinners have been unusual in the seasonal timing, the fresh produce is still such a blessing!

Featured this week in our Delectably Kosher section is great recipe accompanied by an artistic photo of "Tomato Pie."  Our very own Beth Rank sent me a PM, sharing this delicious dish, earlier this week and it was an instant hit in the Ozarks!

I literally, could not wait to tell her, everything that went into that pie shell was just now ready, here in the Land of Goshen.  The tomatoes have been late, very late.  A friend of mine who has an orchard and farm market said she just wasn't even dealing with tomatoes this year.  They just didn't work out in the timing.  She's well past 80 and her customers want perfection in appearance and timing, so I don't blame her for just not worrying about it!  She did have a lovely peach crop, but the timing was odd there too.  Now back to tomatoes.

This recipe that Beth shared could not have come at a better time.  My tomatoes are weighing down the staked vines with green tomatoes.  My daughter keeps complaining about the same problem in the north part of the state.  I suggested she put a "grow light" in her outdoor fixture at the back door.  But then, I remembered to warn her, Big Brother follows those grow light orders . . .  So, the Midwest and the Ozarks have been blessed with a late tomato crop, and Beth has blessed us with a recipe for Tomato Pie.

When Beth sent me the recipe, I had just picked enough beautiful organic heirloom tomatoes for the recipe.  It's September!  Don't despair, even if the tomatoes are green on the vine when the frost warning is sounded, we've got green tomato ripening measures as well as green tomato recipes.  Meanwhile, back at the homestead, if you have tomatoes ripening just a few at a time, Have we got a recipe for you!

Before Making a Grocery List

You may want to check out this information.  Some of the vegetables on the "Dirty Dozen" list can be easily grown in a window box or house plant pot.

http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/11421-14-fruits-and-vegetables-to-always-buy-organic.html

If At First You Don't Succeed . . .

Try something different.  There are a couple of nontraditional things I've tried as of late, and I'm really excited in the outcome, so I'm sharing avocado adventure, this week.

I've tried several times to get an avocado seed or pit to sprout.  I've attempted the standard method more times than I can count.  That is using tooth picks to suspend the pit in a glass of water until it sprouts or develops roots or something.  I've failed at this so many times, I didn't even know what to be looking for.  I've also tried suspending it both ways, that is; point down, wide end up, and vise-versa.

Every single time, without exception, nothing happened, and I tried for prolonged periods of time, only to serve up an old pit in the chicken feed.  So far, I've seen no evidence of an avocado tree in the chicken yard, either.

Earlier in the summer, I made guacamole resulting in two avocado seeds on the counter just glaring at me, defiantly.  It was at that moment, a thought occurred to me.  It's worked so well on so many other things I've tried, I decided to just stop obsessing over my failure.  That's not an easy decision in any failure in life for me, but, I chose to take a pragmatic approach.  I mean, after all, I'd never personally witnessed this suspended avocado pit success story, so I figured I had nothing to lose!  If my idea didn't work, it was two more avocado pits that didn't sprout, but it if did . . . I didn't even have a conclusion to that thought!

I didn't even give it a great deal of thought.  I had a large square patio pot with an eggplant growing in it, so I took a spoon, dug an avocado pit sized hole in two of the corners tossed in and covered; with two thoughts in mind.  Since they were in with something else, I wouldn't forget to water them, and if they did nothing, the seeds would break down and become soil nutrient.




That was the end of May, I believe.  The first of August, my folks were visiting when Daddy made the comment that I had two trees growing on my deck.  Sure enough!   The avocados were actually taller than the eggplant, which is now vining over the front of the pot weighted down by fruit.

So, if at first you don't succeed, and after too many times to count, you still don't succeed . . .

              try a different method!

Family Business

We, as the people of YHWH need to do what our Messiah said.  We need to be ready.  He also said to "occupy."  When I looked up that word from the parable, it gave indication of being busy, in "the business," which leads me to the concept of a family business.  In most family businesses, the next generation grows up in it, watching the father and older siblings learning the priorities while developing as well as displaying the values of that family and their merchandise or service.  When it comes to the family business of Messiah, it's service unto our Creator.

In this new section here at the Goshen Gazette, it is the fervent prayer of this Editor that this becomes a place of sharing family business.  The family of YHWH.  The first born of the brethren, Messiah, has set an awesome example and given pretty clear direction.  We are to be ready, to occupy until He returns, and to be watching.  His final instructions for Peter was to feed the lambs, and that's what we'll be encouraging and addressing here at Grocery Underground.

I'm not trying to incite fear, but our food supply is already questionable, with GMOs and any variety of strange additives that are clearly not kosher, with many being downright disgusting!  Along with strange DNA in our vegetables, the probability of human DNA in our rice, poison in our grains, and a very strange diet for our meat supply, it's time to really consider what the next generation will be eating.  I realize prophecy appears to be unfolding at a rapid rate, but the truth of the matter is, the developed industrialized countries could find themselves trying to survive at third world status.  I'm not saying that will happen, but even if we maintain our "convenience and comfort level," the food is being altered and the general health of the population is deteriorating.

Scripture makes it pretty clear that diet is important, has been from the beginning.  I realize I'm sound rather preachy, here.  We as believers have been called to follow Messiah, and to feed the lambs.  For the time being we can share our heirloom seeds, but we cannot sell them without some sort of USDA certification.   If you have a seed business, we invite you to contact the editor for great rates on our ad space.  Otherwise, anyone who would like to offer ideas, ask questions, or participate in this exchange endeavor, please visit the forum board and weigh in on the subject!  2chooselife

 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and Elohim saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:12