Harvesting Shishito Peppers & a Plethora of Tomatoes

Village Farm Team,

We’re slowly starting to harvest more peppers with Jalafuegos coming on last week and Shishitos joining this week. Unlike the spicy Jalafuego, the Shishito is a mild pepper with flavors that are citrusy and grassy. Their characteristic wrinkled-looking skin sets them apart from their other pepper counterparts making them easy to identify. Shishitos can be eaten raw but they develop a rich and smoky flavor when blistered, grilled, or roasted. A popular Japanese preparation is to make shishito tempura or to simply blister the peppers and serve them with a soy or miso-based dipping sauce.

Our tomato harvest continues to be incredibly abundant this week! We are now harvesting from every single variety we have planted from the sweet cherries to the larger slicing varieties. Our most abundant this week is a cultivar called BHN 871. Don’t let the odd name fool you as this variety produces large, golden-orange hued tomatoes perfect for slicing. These golden beauties have less acidity than our Big Beefs and are the perfect addition to sandwiches and salads. We highly recommend whipping up a simple caprese salad by layering thick slices of BHN 871 with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, a drizzle of fruity extra virgin olive oil, and a hefty sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

We mentioned a few weeks ago how excited we’ve been to see the interest in Farm Club grow as more of you have been taking the plunge into learning how to grow your own food. As we’ve been expanding this program for our Harvest Green residents, we’ve been exploring how we can make it accessible and inclusive for as many of them as possible. We’re currently working on adding several raised beds that will allow those with mobility concerns or those that would otherwise not be able to access our conventional beds the opportunity to grow their own food as well. We hope to have this portion of our Farm Club program ready for applicants in the fall!