So a client of mine, who I helped sell a home, had a super healthy and prolific roma tomato plant. I was allowed to harvest as many as I wanted and because Rachell and I saw an easy brief on sun dried tomatoes which proclaimed roma as the best kind to use, I went to town on the plant. I must have plucked about 15 tomatoes, and there were plenty left on the plant.
Sun dried tomatoes are easy to do but incredibly time intensive. It takes about six hours in low oven heat, about 150-200 degrees (key word low). This particular recipe calls for five pounds and fine sea salt, but I used as many as I could fit on the screen and seasoned with coarse salt, cracked black pepper and fresh rosemary. Take a look!
Ingredients:
- 5 pounds (2.5 kg) Roma (oval) tomatoes
- Fine sea salt
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. (100 degrees C.; gas mark 1), or the lowest setting possible. Remove the oven racks.
- Trim and discard the stem ends of the tomatoes. Halve each tomato lengthwise. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, side by side and crosswise on cake racks set on the oven racks. Do not allow the tomatoes to touch one another. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Place in the oven and bake until the tomatoes are shriveled and feel dry, anywhere from 6 to 12 hours. Check the tomatoes from time to time: They should remain rather flexible, not at all brittle. Once dried, remove the tomatoes from the oven and allow them to thoroughly cool on cake racks. (Smaller tomatoes will dry more quickly than larger ones. Remove each tomato from the oven as it is dried.)
- Transfer the tomatoes to zipper-lock bags. The tomatoes will last indefinitely.
I caned ours in a jar with olive oil.
Best,
Dave
Ingredients:
In a large, nonreactive saucepan, toss the plums with the sugar and let stand, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 1 hour.
Zucchini Galette from 
Baking:
Zucchini Bread from 
Directions: 
New initiative: How to suit your home and yourself for a sustainable future, just adding what I know here. 
Surprisingly, I did not hear about this article via the City of Tustin’s 
A couple weeks ago Dave came home with a small container of tightly packed tomato plants that he received from his vendor Mitch at Aloha Printing. All David told me was that the tomatoes were a hybrid variety raised from seed by the local vendor/gardener in Old Town Tustin. We separated the tomato plants into small individual containers to see how many were squeezed into the container–it turns out there were 10, although we lost two during the transplanting.
Pretty cool event held in joint cooperation with CC&R Waste Management and the City of Tustin for Earth Day (Week). Single Family Residents (SFRs) who present the coupon from their April 1st billing statement, Environmental News, will receive two 30lbs bags of compost. 
Composting, I really thought that it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread for Rachell and I. But, we live in an apartment with little actual yard and the idea of a compost heap in a shared patio space didn’t seem so neighborly. Thankfully, my sister-in-law was able to acquire a 100 gallon drum from her grandfather and gifted this to us for our garden endeavors. The bin really helps us utilize the available space of the constraints of the patio. 
We started the seeds out in discarded egg shells, neatly punctured for drainage purposes (this can be done with a push-tack). If you don’t already have a compost pile, using egg shells for housing your seeds helps keep unnecessary items out of landfills and brings nutrients to the surrounding soil with the these items decomposing over time. 
I am not moving the seedlings outside just yet—I am going to wait until they sprout a few leaves. But I cannot wait for the sweet smelling flowers to begin to bloom! Stay tuned for the next step—planting the seedlings outside (and attempting to create some sort of teepee).
Local, Organic and Fresh: Community Supported Agriculture
We try to grow as much as we can in our concrete jungle (also known as a patio)–carrots, tomatoes, kale, lettuce, strawberries, herbs–however until we upgrade to more land, we have to supplement our food with trips to the market.
We are learning about the importance of buying organic and local produce. It is not always easy, and we definitely slip from time to time. However living in California we are blessed that we can grow a myriad of food options year round.
And in this quest of learning to eat more seasonally and locally, Dave and I joined a CSA program. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between a local farmer/producer and a community (us!). We purchased a membership to receive a bi-weekly large basket for one quarter (equals 7 baskets or 14 weeks).
The basket includes local produce from the farm, in this case, South Coast Organic Farms in San Juan Capistrano. When we went to pick up our first package at our previously agreed upon location (Old Vine Cafe at the Camp in Costa Mesa) on Thursday, we were met with disappointment and only came away empty handed! After David contacted the farm, they apologized saying that our information was entered incorrectly and they would deliver our basket to us on Friday.
Friday afternoon we received our basket brimming with food. It included fresh cut ranunculus flowers, swiss chard, cilantro, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi (don’t worry I had to google this too!), fennel, radishes, onion, oranges, apples, grapefruit, strawberries, avocados, and potatoes.
At first I was a little confused when I noticed stickers on some of the oranges, and apples, but after I looked the companies up online (local California farms), I found out that it is not uncommon for farms within CSA programs to join up with other local producers–especially it seems with fruit producers that are groves, to provide a larger amount of food for members.
The South Coast Farms CSA offers regular or large packages either weekly or biweekly, and you can pick up the package from one of many different locations or have it delivered directly to your home. All of these variables affect the pricing so if you are interested please check out their webpage, South Coast Farms.
We will let you know how our adventure in seasonal cooking continues and any surprising recipes that become popular favorites!
Happy Eating!
Best,
Rachell A. Wilfert