Tonopah Rob's Vegetable Farm

Pictured here is an okra flower.  Can you see the baby okra?  It was a flower two days ago. 

It was another beautiful day at the farm stand.  At times the sky was thick with layers of clouds piling high onto one another, at least that’s what it looked like from the ground.  It was almost but not quite a chilly morning if you can believe I just said that on the third weekend of July….an Arizona July.  Throughout the morning tiny nearly undetectable raindrops floated down from the sky and at one point the drizzle turned into a serious downpour.   The rain exploded from the heavens like a big fat popped water balloon drenching the farm for three minutes.  As fast as it engulfed the farm, it stopped.  The speedy storm left the farm still cloudy, cool and fresh feeling.

Pictured here are purple and white carrot flowers.  If the carrots stay in the ground long enough the carrot tops turn into sturdy sticks and they flower. After pollination the pretty color disappears and a seed head begins to form in clusters like dill. 

As if the temperatures, rain, sunflowers, zinnias weren’t enough to inhale, I could see customers slightly tilt their heads back and take in a big sniff of the fire roasted chili peppers filling the air with a soothing but hungry aroma.  Tonopah Rob was cranking out barrel after barrel of delicious mild flavored chili’s.  “They are so good, I just ate my bag on the way home”, one lady said.  “Last time Rob was roasting chili’s I bought only one bag, this week I’m getting three, one was just not enough.”  They are really good flavored.  All the peppers are fantastic.

And the tomatoes…….sold every one.  “I haven’t been able to find tomatoes like Tonopah Rob’s since I move here 10 years ago from Wisconsin”, said another customer standing next to her husband.  And her husband said, “get double of what you brought home last week, those maters were awesome.”  If you haven’t been to the farm to get your summer veggies you better hurry before the season is over.

You can freeze tomatoes and any kind of pepper.  Wash, dice and or slice the peppers and freeze.  Wash, cut off the soft spots and core if desired and freeze the tomatoes whole.  At Tonopah Rob’s test kitchen, bags are filled with garlic cloves, onions, bell peppers, whole tomatoes. After the bags have had a few minutes to sit they go into the deep freezer.   It’s great to dump a bag into a pot, bring to a boil until the ingredients soften and cook down.  It makes its own spaghetti sauce, salsa, chili and so many other things. See what you miss when you don’t come to the farm?

Last weekend a lovely lady brought to the farm stand several printed copies of a recipe she made with the farm’s veggies.  We like customers to bring a few copies of different recipes to the farm stand to share with others.  “It’s a personable way to meet people who are excited about great healthy produce and the best ingredients for those recipes are from Tonopah Rob’s farm.”  Go ahead Karen, tell me more!!

By the way, these comments are from customers who have now joined the Farm Stand Only CSA program.  The new season begins in the fall and July 31, 2014 is the deadline for receiving the early bird bonus bucks for joining the fall CSA program.  Check out the above tabs CSA Information and CSA Contract. 

Here’s the veggie list:

•  Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Assorted Bell Peppers-this week’s roasted pepper choice. They are fabulous with any meal.
• Onions
• Garlic
• Carrots
• Figs
• Beets
• Okra
• Potatoes
• A surprise or two
• Eggplant
• Eggs
• Squash
• maybe a few cantaloupes
• one pair of used boots without a sole. I wonder where they will go after they expire if they don’t have sole?

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