squashblossom

If you haven't been to the Lawrenceville Inn on rt. 206 in Lawrenceville, you should get in your car and go right now. I ate dinner there on saturday and had to go back for lunch today. The gaspatcho is to die for- it comes in a bowl (obviously) half of the gaspatcho is green, half is red and where they meet is a thick line of finely diced vegetables. The green half is green tomato, cucumber, cilanto; and the red half is red tomato and really spicy. Eaten individually they are interesting takes on gazpatcho- mixed together they are perfect! But go quick because the hostess told me the gazpatcho (like the rest of the menu) changes often. Before this batch, she said it was clear!?! My main course of red snapper with mango salsa and avacado butter with roasted fingerling potatoes was delicious and my dining companion's Porkloin wiith sweet and sour peaches and vegetable dumplings was awesome. Portion size was perfect- filling, but not so much that you couldn't have dessert. All the desserts sounded excellent, but I opted for the fresh blueberry crumbcake with carmelized blueberry sauce and lemon whipped cream. (I had it again today- well blueberries are going out of season) oh my god- I forgot to mention the housemade mozzarella. get in the car we're going....

I am growing tomatoes on my farm in Hopewell, NJ. For the previous 5 years I worked on a farm in central, PA that grew a lot of tomatoes. To the best of my knowledge there is no "Jersey tomato" or "Pennsylvania tomato"- it's all about tomato variety and how and where they are grown. Most tomatoes you have been getting up until now (that have been grown in this area) are from "tunnels" either heated or unheated plastic greenhouses. I have been picking red "Buffalo tomatoes" and yellow "Azafrans" for about a month from my unheated tunnel. They are planted in the soil, just covered by a plastic frame and sometimes a row cover too, to keep it as hot as possible in there during late april, may and June. Most people think greenhouse grown tomatoes lack flavor, but I think that is mostly a myth and perhaps they are confusing them with hydroponic tomatoes which are not grown in soil but feed off a "nutrient mix" ( I honestly don't know much about hydroponics, sorry.) You can also plant the same varieties in tunnels as you do in the field. As for flavor- go for the heirlooms! Cherokee Purples, green zebras, Brandywines, striped Germans! The uglier the better! These heirloom tomatoes are generally older varieties that have not been genetically breed for shelf life, color, etc. The problem with growing them is that they have definately not been breed to be split or disease resistant. This makes for a lot of split, unsaleable tomatoes. Hence usually a higher price. I usually bring my split ones also for the customers who are ok with splits. It just means they are ripe and ready to eat! I sell my tomatoes for $3.00 a pound. It sounds like a lot to me too, but once you understand what goes into growing tomatoes on a larger than garden scale, you'll understand. I'd be happy to detail the life of a tomato crop, but I don't want to be preachy. Just if anyone's interested....

mmmm. I ate the pizza for breakfast this morning. Only 4 days old and it was still good! Ok it wasn't so good, but i was hungry. HV that was an awesome post, I'm very honored to have been part of it. Which city shall we eat next? Epicurean palatte tomorrow night..... I'll try and eat for you! I also just got the Pesto Rats restaurant made from my 50# of basil and garlic- it's amazing. Which, by the way is on sale at my farmers' market in Princeton saturday mornings from 8:30-1:30 (shameless plug)

Hi, my first post since moving to NJ to run Spring Hill Farm in Hopewell. We have two weekly farmers' markets: SATURDAYS in Princeton 8:30- 1:30 The market is in the Herban Garden at the corner of Paul Robeson Way and Witherspoon St. Right behind Witherspoon Bread Co. It's hard to see from the street, but look for the signs leading you into the garden. (If you've never been in the garden it's a beautiful spot!) WEDNESDAYS in Hopewell 4pm-7pm The market is on rt. 518 (main street in Hopewell) Right in front of Failte coffee shop, about a block down from The Brothers Moon restaurant. Look for the white tents. Spring Hill Farm is certified organic. Right now I have: Buffalo and Azafran TOMATOES from my tunnel, green beans, summer squash, basil, garlic, lettuce, sunflowers, mixed bouquets ..... and more! Also to plug my fellow farmers..... Hopeview farm stand a little further south on 518 sells organic vegetables (grown by my childhood friend from DC) as well as non organic produce The Bridge Farm operates a farmstand right across the bridge from Frenchtown in Uhlerstown, PA. They're not certified, but are great growers. Hope you'll visit these markets!

I think Rats is in Hopewell and associated with the Grounds for Sculpture. Has anyone been there? Note from moderator: Threads merged.

Thanks guys. I just got in touch with the ladies who run the freshfarm markets and they sent him an application- they have/are going to open more markets so hopefully he'll be here soon!

Rohrer's Meats DaKaRoh Farm dakarohfarm@aol.com

I'll suggest all these things to him- does anyone know where I can get a list of contacts at various markets for him?

This past weekend I attended a sustainable farming conference ( I am an organic vegetable grower) and I sat next to a meat producer from Boonsboro, MD at dinner. (Dinner was amazing- but that's another topic....) He sells in Frederick, MD at a market, and has been trying to get into the Dupont market, but that's surprisingly difficult to do- there are waiting lists. He would love to establish a market in DC, so I offered to try to find enough interested people to make the trip down worthwhile for him. If you are interested or have more questions, please email me. Here's a little more info about what he offers and his operation: The farm is DaKaRoh Farm, located in Boonsboro, MD. It is owned and operated by Danny Rohrer. He raises beef cattle, pork, lamb, goat, chickens and turkeys. He is not certified organic, but his animals are hormone free. His cattle are pastured, then penned and "finished" on grains (corn, soybeans, barley, wheat, Timothy hay) for about two weeks before they are butchered. He believes corn finished cattle have a superior taste to purely grassfed. His chickens are free-range. By law, butchering is done at a USDA certified station. So- get some very fresh, tasty, hormone free meat and support small-scale local farms!

Yay! I found it! (not that I could find my way into your blog again) I'm still figuring out this crazy egullet thing. And unfortunately if I keep farming I will always be poor and Saint Martin's might not happen- (Bethany maybe) You forgot one thing essential to the parsnips- the parsley! I think that combination contributed to the dish's excellence. So I just ate at Le Petit Plats on Conn. Ave. A little dissapointing, especially the restaurant week menu that had a very boring maincourse of chicken with mushrooms and pearl onions. I wanted to order the roasted winter vegetable plate, but as I was dining with a dairy farmer he wanted meat. But, we also had pretty good Mussels Provencale and French Fries. The mussels were pretty good- lots of garlic and warm french bread to mop up the sauce. They're served in a big black pot, which along with the cozy ambiance of the place made it a nice meal. The French Fries were definately the best part- I might even go as far as saying they are the best french fries in DC.