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Farm & Garden Tools of the Trade
With its oldest recorded uses in China, ancient Egypt, and in Europe during the Middle Ages, a dibble or "dibbler" is a garden tool used to make uniform holes in the soil for the purpose of planting bulbs or seeds. The world "dibble" is derived from the Middle English "dibben," which means "to make a hole in the soil."
This amazing piece of workmanship is a gift from the talented Mr. Bob Varrica of Connecticut to Ev - aka "Farmboy." In "Booby's" words: "Planting onions will never be the same."
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San Marzano Tomatoes
The first seed of the San Marzano tomato, a gift from the kingdom of Peru, was planted in Naples in the volcanic soil within the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius in 1700. Compared to the familiar Roma tomato, the Marzano's flesh is much thicker with fewer seeds and its flavor is stronger, sweeter and less acidic. The seed of the San Marzano is imported from Italy and sold at a premium over common paste tomato varieties. [ Source: Wikipedia ] Renowned chefs - the likes of Mario Batali - prize the San Marzano. At Everland Farm, it's the tomato that Ev has grown with success over the past decade - as long as he's grown the specialty hardneck garlic - "Music."
Ev picks the first ripe Marzanos...
The yield from that first early picking was 1 quart of sauce.
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Making San Marzano tomato sauce is labor intensive but have you ever had great home-cooking that wasn't a labor of love? About a pound of vine-ripened San Marzano tomatoes yields a single quart of pure tomato sauce but the rich flavor of the Marzano is incomparable.
Long after you've sliced your last garden fresh tomato, your freezer will continue to yield that fresh, rich-red-sunny-summer taste. Perfect for a long winter's day when comfort food gently burbling on the stove is as good as it gets. Bon appetit!
The Garden of Gahanna...
Our first home was at Wellington Way Apartments in Gahanna OH, a suburb of Columbus. It was there that Ev and I began to realize our shared passion for gardening...
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Early summer in the garden & on the grounds @ Everland Farm...
Spring in the garden brings fellow gardeners & friends together...
Our stand of Music garlic, planted the previous Fall, is often up and growing come February. We also often grow a crop of San Marzano tomatoes, started from seed by our good neighbor at "Clara's Greenhouse" on Riegel Ridge Road. Ev turns the harvest into an au natural pasta sauce that Mario Batali would be proud to call his own. Its seasoning includes what I call "Oregano Varrica" because it's grown and dried by a fellow gardener and Ev's lifelong friend in the great State of Connecticut. In early April, the kitchen garden sees the planting of "Candy Onions;" first introduced to us by a fellow gardener and my lifelong friend from Indiana, spinach, radish, lettuce & potatoes. Then, at the appropriate planting time, slicing tomatoes, green peppers, corn, green beans and cucumbers go in -- with a
touch of zinnias for color.
