Ron is stressed about the garden. Every year, he stresses about the corn. Every single year. So far, except for the year the squirrels ate almost all of the corn, the corn always comes, and we have plenty. Hopefully, this year will be the same.
He’s also stressed about the tomatoes, but they are coming. A few of the big tomatoes are ready, but mainly, the Sungolds are here, and they must be one of the most delicious foods I have ever eaten. “Like candy,” our farm share customers said to me today. It’s true. They are just like candy.
Sungolds from the garden are also quite different than the copycats I have had from the grocery store. I actually used to think I didn’t like tomatoes–until I tasted a tomato fresh from the garden. I could not believe the difference in taste.
Sungolds were actually the first food I ever tasted from our garden many years ago. I guess they are maybe what got me hooked on fresh food from the garden. How in the world can you go back to eating tomatoes from the grocery store when you can have them fresh from the garden.
We eat seasonally and locally, but it’s not like I actually set out to be a seasonal eater. I just discovered, after tasting fresh Sungolds, that I would rather wait all year until the Sungolds are ready than eat a bland tomato from the grocery store.
It’s pizza season, and I love it. It’s the time of year when the tomatoes and peppers and onions are ready in the garden, and I make homemade pizzas with the freshest ingredients. I love homemade pizzas because they are not only delicious but also most of the ingredients are from the farm. It’s the cheese I have to buy at the store. We have no dairy from our farm. If we were younger, we would definitely have goats. But we are not, so I buy the cheese.
I wanted to share the pizza dough recipe because it’s so good and not too much work at all. You just have to plan and start it early in the morning to make sure it’s ready for cooking in the evening. I hope you enjoy and hope you will be able to make rounder pizzas than I can. I always say my cooking is a bit ugly, but it’s very delicious.
*This recipe is adapted from Alana Chernila’s pizza dough recipe in The Homemade Pantry.
Pizza Dough
Ingredients
6 cups all purpose flour (you can also mix this up and use some combination of wheat flour; we grind some wheat flour to mix with the white flour, but the total us about 6 cubes give or take depending on your flour) 2 and 1/2 cups warm water 4 teaspoons active dry yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 4 teaspoons olive oil (plus some oil for greasing your bowl)
Directions
In a very large mixing bowl, add your water, sugar, and yeast. Mix the ingredients a bit and let them sit for 5 minutes. When the yeast is bubbly in five minutes or so, add your oil and salt and then add the flour a couple of cups at a time. Mix and little and then add more. Keep going like this until you have added all of your flour. Once the dough is good and thick, flour your hands and then dig into it. You will form it into a ball and then knead it for about five minutes.
I have just one giant bowl, so I pull out the dough and set it aside and then wash the bowl. I then dry the bowl completely and then use olive oil to grease the bowl. Add your ball of dough, flip it, and then cover your bowl with ling wrap or a wet flour sack towel. It’s important that the dough does not dry out. Put the bowl in a warm place. In the summer, most everywhere is plenty warm. In the winter, you will need to place it near a stove or in an oven set to proof.
Let your dough right for about 10 hours. The longer the better. This recipe makes two very large pizzas or three medium pizzas.
To make your pizza, cut your dough into two or three pieces and roll them into circles. Add your sauce, cheeses, and then whatever fresh ingredients you prefer.
Cook in a very hot oven (about 450 degrees) for about 15 to 20 minutes for the larger pizzas and less time if you are making three pizzas. I check on mine often. Essentially, I just try to make sure the edges are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.
Tonight, for dinner, we had our usual plate of summer vegetables. While I made quesadillas, Ron was putting together this beautiful platter of vegetables with greens and oranges and purples. When he was finished, the plate looked like a vegetable work of art. In early August, we eat fresh vegetables almost every day, and right now, it’s beets, carrots, kohlrabi, and cucumbers. The cucumbers are magnificent this year!
I am amazed at what all Ron has been able to do in the garden despite the heat and drought. The beets are still delicious despite the heat. Every now and then, one is bitter, but the beet we had for dinner tonight was perfect. And the tomatoes are almost ready. We have had a few sun golds, and they are heaven. I feel super fortunate that the tomatoes are coming so well–and they are coming SO well. I read in the local newspaper that, due to drought, a bunch of the tomatoes across the state have blossom rot. It happens when the plants do not get enough water during the blossom stage.
None of Ron’s tomatoes have blossom rot. In fact, like 1/4 of the garden looks like a beautiful tomato jungle. I am pretty sure there must be 1000 tomatoes out there. He grew 6 or 7 varieties, some heirloom.
On top of this, Ron grew extra seedlings that he didn’t have room for in the garden, so everywhere you look in our property, there’s a random tomato plant. I think there are at least 10 giant plants scattered throughout the property–by the drive way, by the front door, in the flower bed, in the corners of the broccoli and cauliflower garden. It’s fantastic. He can’t let a plant die. It seems wrong to him, as it does to me. I hate when it’s time to thin plants.
But nothing is better than the corn. Fresh, organic corn on the cob is maybe my favorite treat from the garden–and it’s almost time. I was outside with the chickens yesterday and looked up at the garden from far away and just suddenly noticed this epic corn. I am so hopeful.
We lost our blueberries to the birds, though it was a bad year for them anyway. Our raspberries didn’t do super well. Ron planted another round of greens, and only about half of the plants didn’t cook in the sun. It’s been a tough year, but the corn seems to be coming perfectly.
I can’t wait!
***
I also have to do a quick Ruby update. She’s still living in the garage. I have no idea where she’s laying her eggs now because Juliet, who had gotten VERY bossy, kicked poor Ruby out of her favorite crate for egg laying. There’s another empty crate. Does she use that? No, of course not. That would be too easy.
But Ruby has done the cutest and most interesting thing. She has become an aunt to the babies ditched by Juliet and Kate. They hang out with her and follow her around a bit. The other day, I saw them all dirt bathing in the flower bed. Ron has given up on keeping Ruby out of the flower bed at this point. Now, she’s teaching the youngsters. Somehow, she’s just so quirky and interesting that she can get away with hit. It’s like you just have to let her be who she wants to be.
