We are so pleased to welcome our first guest blogger to “the stage”.  Damien Casten, owner of Candid Wines, shares tales of his grape growers/wine makers passion for also growing tomatoes.  Since we are selling beautiful seedlings from Tomato Mountain Farm right now, seems like a great time to give a few tips about growing fantastic tomatoes and inspire all of you to get gardening!

There is no faking a perfect tomato.   Big or small, yellow or red, beefsteak or brandywine, a fresh, garden grown tomato is beyond compare in its ability to focus one’s entire being on the present moment.  Have you ever been served a plate of tomatoes straight from the garden and not reacted with unbridled joy, knowing that you are about to eat the real deal, that it’s summer time, and that you are by definition in a happy place?

Chadwick Cherry Tomatoes

What does my love for homegrown, heirloom tomatoes have to do with the wines for sale at Green Grocer Chicago?  Quite a lot, actually.  At Candid we seek out growers, first and foremost.  I find that wines which evoke the same visceral pleasure as garden tomatoes start in vineyards tended with the same care as the backyard plot.  Perhaps not coincidentally, from Germany to Italy and France to California, I’ve noticed that our farmers most all have beautiful kitchen gardens full of tomato plants.

Zinfandel vines in the Scherrer Vineyard.

It follows then that I’ve asked just about all of them how they approach tomatoes in hopes that I might learn a few secrets for my own garden.  Two of our farmers, who collectively count more than 130 harvests’ experience,  Charlie Barra and Ed Scherrer, graciously agreed to have me film their responses.  Charlie and his family produce the organically grown Barra and Girasole wines that Green Grocer fans will know so well.  Ed tends the Zinfandel that his grandfather planted in 1912 in the Alexander Valley and his son Fred makes it into “Zinfandoodle”, the seriously light hearted non-vintage blend that we love to show off against more expensive bottles.

Ed Scherrer in Sonoma (left), Charlie Barra in Mendocino (right) Photo credits: Damien Casten and Jordan Warners.

As Charlie and Ed explain their tomato growing techniques, I see two men who approach growing thoughtfully, methodically, and with a certain humility.   Over the next few weeks, as the Green Grocer dives into it’s annual plant sale with Tomato Mountain, I hope you’ll refer back to these videos and that they provide guidance applicable to your backyard plot or to the plant on the windowsill.  In August or September when your harvest comes in, raise a glass with friends to the greatest flavor of summer.

Charlie Barra on Tomatoes:

Tips on growing tomatoes from Charlie Barra of Girasole Vineyards and Barra of Mendocino:
- Plant tomatoes outside after heavy frost, and plan on covering the plants on nights when even a light frost is possible.  (May 15th is the last frost date here in Chicago).
- Grow the vines on a stake at least six feet tall.
- Prune the bottom shoots off the plant roughly 6 inches off the ground.
- Allow three shoots to grow per plant.
- Brandywines are a favorite for the table. Early girl is a favorite for preserving.
- Pick only when vine ripe – the longer the tomato is on the vine to ripen, the better it tastes.
- Buy a plant or two with fruit already on the vine if you’re competing with neighbors to see who can grow the first ripe tomato…

Ed Scherrer on tomatoes:

Key points from Ed Scherrer of the Scherrer Vineyard on growing tomatoes:
- Plant tomatoes in rows, two to three feet apart, on a drip system if possible.
- Use an 8ft grape stake to allow for height.
- Connect the vertical stakes with horizontal strips of wood. Each vine can be attached to this structure and supported in many places: it’s labor intensive early, but saves time later. (Author’s Note: We’ve adopted this system after years of experiments and it’s the best we’ve found).
- Don’t let the tomato plant grow on the ground as that leads to rot and waste.

A few additional tips from my experience growing heirloom tomatoes that Charlie and Ed did not touch on:

- Whether in a pot or in the ground, dig a deep hole and shovel in a healthy dose of compost first.  This will feed the plant all season.

- Plant your tomato deep enough so that the white hairs along the base of the stem are covered.  These are potential roots, and if they are underground, they will help nourish the plant.

- City folks:  Beware!  Chicago soil is at best not great, and at worst, poisonous.  Do not plant anything that you will eat in topsoil that has not been tested by experts.  An article that explains why from the Chicago Tribune is here.

- Tomatoes love morning sun.  Plant them is your sunniest spot that warms up in the morning.  (That’s actually a tip I stole from Charlie.)

- First timers?  Growing with children?  Try smaller varieties of Cherry Tomatoes.  Black Cherry and Tess’s Land Race Currant are personal favorites.   They are your best bet to have at least a handful of ripe tomatoes your first time around.  Larger varieties can be harder to ripen, and it would be a shame to wait all season for something that never comes.

- Planting heirlooms?  Ask friends, neighbors, and vendors which types grow best in Chicagoland.  I’ve tried many that work well in Georgia and sound fabulous in the seed catalogue, but never perform as well as I’d like.

- Companion planting is a glorious thing.  Try planting a row of carrots at the base of your tomatoes, or put a few thyme, oregano, or basil plants into the same pot (assuming there is space, don’t overcrowd them).  Not only will this lead to sauces and salads straight from the garden, there are also proven benefits for the plant’s defenses against pests.  Here is an article on companion planting that will help.

Finally, if at first you don’t succeed…Try again next year in a new spot, or with a different variety.  In the meantime, Cassie and the Green Grocer team will have plenty of fresh, local heirloom tomatoes to help you make it through the summer.  Good luck!

Cassie with Charlie and Martha Barra

Longtime vendor to Green Grocer, Candid Wines provides organic, biodynamic, carbon neutral, solar powered and simply delicious wines from small, family owned estates to the store.  This guest post is by Candid Wines’ Damien Casten, who grows heirloom tomatoes in pots on his Chicago roof, in the soil at his folks out in the Western ‘Burbs, and at the preSERVE Garden in North Lawndale with Slow Food Chicago.

I beat 7 Milo’s pasture raised eggs together (good idea to always use quality eggs but especially when they are such a key player in a meal) and once I knew the pan in the oven was hot enough, used an oven mitt to remove it and place it stove top.  I poured in about 1/3 of the eggs, topped that with a healthy layer of my ramp/mushroom mixture and then covered that with a little Prairie Fruits Farm’s fresh goat cheese.  Then another 1/3 of the eggs, more ramp/mushrooms and then the rest of the eggs.  I grated a little fresh parmesan on top and put it back in my hot oven.  I baked it for about 25-30 minutes or so but just test when the top is golden brown and the center is no longer liquid.

Take that baby out and let it cool a couple of minutes.  I like to serve a simple salad on the side-this one was Here locally grown arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, salt/pepper and fresh Parmesan.  And wine.  Don’t forget the wine…

I also used the scone making as an excuse to whip up some of Alice Water’s lemon curd using some gorgeous Meyer lemons given to us by one of our customers (thanks Richard!).  Here’s the recipe upon which I based my curd:  http://justpigs.posterous.com/lemon-curd-4.  Holy decadence, Batman!  The lemon curd was the perfect rich/tangy balance to my slightly crumbly scones.

To accompany the scones and curd we brewed up some of Intelligentsia’s single origin Kenyan coffee and curled up on the couch under a blanket.  So I say forget the projects that you have to do tomorrow and enjoy your snow day with a little scone, coffee and perhaps a good book.

I’ve witnessed Christmas morning scenes that look like a group of hungry Tazmanian devils ripping into packages of raw meat.  Wrapping paper flying, teeth gnashing, no one really taking notice of what’s in the boxes and then 10 minutes after the gifts have been given people have promptly forgotten them.  Or they’ve started talking about the other things they want that they didn’t get.  Or they complain that XYZ item doesn’t work like they thought it should.  Well that’s because it was made in a developing nation probably by someone making a couple dollars to crank out hundreds of XYZs that day.  But I digress….

This might sound like some sort of liberal-anti-consumerism-hippie-dippy-do ranting about Capitalism and how everyone should ask Santa for world peace instead of Wii but I promise you it’s not (not entirely anyways).  My main thought about giving (whether it be the season for it or not) is that not only do I wish for world peace but also for all of us to take a moment and consider not only the recipient of our gifts but also the sources and impacts.

When we give gifts, rarely is the recipient thinking about what we spent on them.  Most of the time they are thinking about the time we put into thinking of this gift that has meaning and significance (small or large).  As a 30-something business owner who spent almost a decade in the corporate world making decent money, I find that there are few material things that I really desire.  Sure I like cute clothes and shoes as much as the next person but those aren’t the things that really get me going.  For me it’s experiences!  I like food (duh), drinking (double duh), travelling, shows, memory creators!  Now I swear I’m not writing this in any way to pressure any of you readers to get me something for Christmas (or am I?) but instead to say that I think a lot of people out there are like me!

The nice thing about consumable gifts (food, drink, tickets to performances, etc) is that they are typically available for a variety of prices (handmade caramels for $6 or a weekend in New York for $1000 and everything in between) and they are, well, consumable!  With all of the waste that has already been created in our world, could we consider giving some gifts that don’t create it?  Of course there are some beautifully crafted items made from recycled or eco-friendly materials (clothes, furniture, jewelry) which can be lovely and thoughtful too!

What’s my point here?  I suppose it is that when giving a gift try to imagine the 3-dimensional-ness of the gift.  Could part of the gift you give be the story behind it (an artisan producer, a socially conscious restaurant, the support of an independent business, band or theater company) or the memories it will help create?  Could it be a donation to an organization about which your recipient is very passionate?  I think it can and I think that the person to whom you give this thoughtful gift will love you (or like you if that’s what you’re going for) even more for your efforts.  Less waste.  More thought.  The Holiday Hippie has spoken.

Grated 1 zucchini, mixed it with 1/2 tps of salt and placed in collander (in the sink) for about 15 minutes.  Rinsed it quickly and squeezed it to dry.

Finely diced a shallot and sauted the shallot and zucchini at medium/medium high heat  in a cast iron skillet with some olive oil for about 5-6 minutes.  I thought that for future reference this would be a great substitute for hash browns for people who are sensitive to a lot of carbohydrates.

After about 5-6 minutes, I removed the zucchini/shallot mix from the skillet and placed in a bowl.  Wiped out the skillet.  Then in another large bowl I beat 5 nice farm fresh Milo’s eggs (Wisconsin, pastured raised).  To the eggs, I added the zucchini, finely diced red pepper and some Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese (from Uplands Dairy in Wisc).  This cheese is similar to a gruyere in nature but much better than any gruyere I can remember.  I only used about 1/3 cup grated. 

After the skillet was wiped out, I brought the heat back up and added more olive oil to coat the bottom and rolled the pan around so it coated 1 inch up the sides.  I poured in the egg mixture and lowered to heat to medium low.  Covered skillet with a sheet pan for about 9 minutes.  Then I popped the frittata under the broiler for about 2 minutes to finish off the top of it.

Then pulled the skillet out of the oven and flipped the frittata out so that the nice golden brown side was face up.  Clearly it looked and smelled so good that we couldn’t take a picture of it before we ate so here’s what’s left.  This was super easy and really delicious.  AND economical!  We’ll have the rest for a late lunch today (can serve at room temp the way you would a quiche) and put a nice Windy City Harvest salad next to it. 

So, I really should have thought about it before I jumped into this lovely book while still on our raw diet.  Despite my occasional drooling while reading her book, the raw diet overall is great (really, I mean it!).  We’ve invested in a couple of cool new kitchen gadgets-namely the Excalibur Dehydrator (the 2500 series) and just yesterday we got our used Vitamix (“Vitaprep”) which Gary has enthusiastically starting making smoothies faster than we can even drink them.  We’re both feeling really good and in fact, Gary said his sinuses are clear for the first time in his life.  Wow!  Shows how much food we normally eat that can congest the body (and we eat pretty healthily normally).  All these wonderful and exciting things aside, I still shouldn’t go to bed with visions of buttery sole meunierre and croissant in my head.  It just messes with me.

Being on day 23 of the RDA, we’ve definitely experimented with a number of raw recipes and I’d like to share a few favorites with you:

Green smoothies-this is Gary’s answer to how to ingest at least some sort of dark leafy green that on their own, doesn’t do it for him.  Since you blend them with fruit, the bitterness of the greens are masked.  The Vitamix is pretty magical for making really smooth and creamy blended things (see pic of the greeness we drank for breakfast today).  There are some easy and yummy recipes for green smoothies at: http://www.gorawhavefun.com/.  You’ll also find some interesting short articles about all things raw and good for you.

Raw “spaghetti”-Gary didn’t like this one as much as I did but we’ve had several guests over for raw dinners and this dish has gotten rave (or “rawve”) reviews.  I like to make the pesto recipe following and mix it with the tomato sauce.  http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/rawspaghetti.html

Living Pesto-who doesn’t love a little rich and basil-y pesto?  In my opinion, this is just as good as pesto with cheese and in fact, we even sell a raw aged parmesan at the store that we could add in if we were so inclined.  http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=13119.0

Sunburgers-You do need a dehydrator for these little hearty guys but they are super good.  I’d been craving something hearty and chewy and these definitely helped: http://www.veggiewave.com/sunburgers

Spiced apple tart-Oh damn is this ever good.  My mom was visiting in town and she had it for dessert and for breakfast the next morning.  And my mom is NOT a raw foodist at all.  The website calls it a pie which I find a bit misleading so I like to call it a tart.  Seems to be more accurately descriptive:  http://kellysfacesmells.blogspot.com/search?q=spiced+apple+pie

Organic energy bars-Kim from our store gave me this easy and quick recipe:  1 1/2 cup dates (pit those bad boys before blending), 1 cup nuts (I used walnuts and macadamias), 1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (you can dehydrate your own or buy non-raw stuff at the store) and 1 tbls vanilla extract.  Food process everything, spread onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet and chill for at least 1 hour.  They are really good and Gary and I ate a lot of these yesterday.  I mean a lot.

We’ve still continued to have a lot of salads-usually one a day.  The base we use mostly is this incredible organic sprouted salad mix from Growing Power in Wisconsin.  It’s by far the best salad mix I’ve ever had-baby kale, chard, lettuces, arugula, mustards, spinach as well as pea shoots, sunflower sprouts and radish sprouts.  You must try it!  We then top it with lots of other veggies-most of which are not local but they are organic.

We did “cheat” slightly on our RDA by having a beer on Sunday night to toast our two year anniversary of Green Grocer Chicago being open.  This was a big milestone for our little business so we felt it appropriate to have a little cheers!

So far, we’ve dehydrated: potatoes (eh), sweet potatoes (needed more time maybe?), bananas (real good), almonds (you already know the story here) and right now I’ve got “corn chips” made from pureed frozen corn and spices as well as sunflower patties going. They say patience is a virtue and your patience is definitely tested when it comes to dehydrating something for 12-24 hours. It also tests your time management skills (and addition while we’re at it). I’m going to plan on making dehydrated foods about every other day, partly because of the whole planning thing and partly because the fresh stuff is more nutritious.

Found a great recipe for a “Stir no-Fry” online (http://goneraw.com/recipe/wok-way-stir-no-fry-dinner-tonight-rawkin-recipe). Even Gary said he’d eat this one after the days of raw are done! I recommend using thinly sliced portabellas and making extras because the day after veggies that have been sitting in the marinade are fantastic. Day after we laid down some phat greens, put a little sprouted quinoa on top and finished it off with the veggies in the marinade and some avocado. Aw yeah veggies!