We’re harvesting plenty for CSA boxes now, and we’re also starting to fill bulk tomato requests for anyone who wants a larger quantity of tomatoes at once.
If you’ve been meaning to put in a request for regular red or Roma tomatoes, now is a good time. We’ll continue filling orders as the tomatoes ripen, with CSA members getting first priority.
Bulk Tomatoes for Sale!
Not every tomato we pick is perfect enough for the table. Tomatoes with large cracks, bruises, green shoulders, or other cosmetic defects are considered seconds. They may not be the prettiest tomatoes, but they’re still useful for all kinds of things: sauce, salsa, roasting, freezing, cooking, or whatever else you have in mind.
We sell them by the 1/2-bushel box, about 25 lb each:
Regular Red Tomatoes: $20
Roma/Paste Tomatoes: $25
Because these are ripe, seconds-quality tomatoes, please plan to use or process them within 24–48 hours for best quality.
Quantities depend on what is ripening, so filling out the form puts you on the request list rather than guaranteeing an order.
The farm is starting to look decidedly late-summer-ish.
Some crops like zucchini and cucumbers are definitely finished and ready to be tilled under to make way for fall cover crops. The tomatoes are beginning to show a few signs of disease creeping in, but are nowhere near stopping, and last week we harvested what may be the last of the muskmelons, just in time for the first watermelons to finally appear.
A bin of 'Century Star' seedless watermelons, recently harvested, thanks to Cari!
Meanwhile, fall is coming whether or not we are ready for it. There is a very long list of things we need to clean up, plant, organize, and prepare, and somehow I have spent so much time in the pack shed lately that I’m not entirely sure what half the farm looks like.
One thing we did manage to get done: we finally poured concrete in front of the headhouse, which is serving as our temporary packing shed until construction begins on our new building. We desperately needed more usable space for washing produce and packing CSA boxes, so this is one of those very unglamorous farm improvements that we are ridiculously excited about.
Coming up for September, we’ll still be picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and other summer crops as long as the plants and weather allow, while at the same time clearing finished plantings, seeding cover crops, cleaning up tunnels and fields, and turning more of our attention toward the crops that will carry us through fall.
Carrots, lettuces, kohlrabi, cabbage, napa, greens, roots, and other cool-weather crops start becoming much more important now. Some are already in the ground and growing, some still need tending, and some are waiting for us to find the time to deal with them.
That is probably the part of September that is hardest to explain from the outside. The farm can look like it is winding down because dead vines and empty, often weed-filled fields are showing up everywhere, but the work does not really wind down with it. We are harvesting one season while trying to build the next one at the same time.
We’re also adding a few new people to the crew for the fall, and things have been going well. I always enjoy meeting new people, especially MSU students who are still figuring out where life might take them. It’s fun getting to know them and having them be part of the farm for however long they decide to stick around.
We hope everyone will settle into September smoothly, whether that means back-to-school routines, MSU move-in, or just the usual shift into a busier fall (and football) season.
This Week's Harvest
If you do not customize, you will receive the Farmer’s Choice Share this week, which includes theitems marked with asterisks (**).
Standard/Alternating/Monthly Shares: select up to 30 credits
Large Shares: select up to 60 credits
For this week:
Apples**: Honeycrisp from C&S Family Farm in Williamston!
Basil:
Thai Basil: Fragrant and slightly spicy, with notes of anise and licorice. Great in stir-fries, curries, noodle dishes, and Vietnamese or Thai-inspired meals.
Lemon Basil: Bright and citrusy with a fresh lemon aroma and mild basil flavor. Lovely with fish, chicken, tomatoes, salads, rice dishes, or anywhere you want a little lemony lift.
On break: traditional green Italian doesn't look great right now, but I'm hoping in another week we'll be back on track.
Beets, Red only - without tops. Likely the final week until the fall crop comes in.
Cabbage- green or red. The final harvest of the summer planting, which should be around for another week or so.
Celery- so tasty! Wonderful just chopped up and frozen for later/winter preparations too.
Eggplant - 2 kinds:
Mini Mix
Italian Style
Long-skinny has gone downhill, so we'll be leaning on the Italian style for a while.
Garlic
Hot Peppers -
Mild to Medium: Hungarian hot, chilaca, jalapeno, and serrano
Medium to Hot: All the above plus red habaneros and cayenne.
Poblano: a lovely smoky-flavored pepper. Traditionally made into chiles relleños but also great in a deconstructed version that is less work.
Kale
Green curly only
Leeks!- Mild and slightly sweet with a gentler onion flavor. Great sautéed, roasted, added to soups, mixed into potato dishes, or used anywhere you’d normally reach for an onion.
Onions: they're back! Hopefully the quality control issues can be contained.
Red: a sweet and simple onion.
Yellow (storage): a more pungent onion
Potatoes, Farmer's Choice**: we're hoping we've resolved any storage and quality control issues with this batch, and since they tend to go bad after washing, these may be distributed dirty (unwashed).
Rutabaga - a hearty veggie that can be used like a potato. From the 2025 harvest.
Shishito Peppers- the roulette game of peppers! Most are mild, but every once in a while you'll get a surprisingly hot one.
Sweet Corn! - likely for the last time this summer. Again, and always, non-GMO sweet corn, so we apologize for any hitchhiking friends on the ears.
Sweet Peppers -
Bell Mix**: a mix of ripe and ripening bells. We are still waiting on our Carmen and Cubanelle, but those may be mixed in too.
Tomatillos- traditionally made into salsa verde or green enchilada sauce.
Tomatoes!
Cherry Mix: Mostly red this year, including our favorite, Sakura.
Juliet: An elongated, slightly drier small tomato that falls somewhere between a cherry and a Roma.
Heirloom-Style**: Colorful varieties in pink, yellow, purple, green, striped, and more.
Red Slicing Tomatoes: Our classic juicy, meaty slicers.
Watermelons! Farmer's Choice**:
3 colors of seedless melons:
Yellow, Orange or Red!
We aren't sure how to distribute this yet... it may be first come, first served on colors OR one site only gets one color. Currently, we have the most red watermelon (called Century Star).
Note: these will NOT be in your boxes! You have to pick them up separately from your CSA host.
I mean duh! We had to talk about tomatoes this week, right?
This week you’ll see our classic red slicers, colorful heirloom-style tomatoes, and cherry/Juliet tomatoes in the CSA store. They’re all a little different, but at this point in tomato season, the bigger question may be: what do you do when they start taking over the counter?
What do you do with too many tomatoes?
The good news is that you do not have to suddenly become a person with a pressure cooker and a plan just because tomato season is in full swing.
If tomatoes are starting to take over your counter, here are some easy ways to use a lot of them at once:
Roast a whole sheet pan with olive oil, garlic, salt, and herbs.
Make a big batch of fresh salsa or pico de gallo.
Make fresh tomato sauce and freeze the extra.
Add them generously to pasta, pizza, grain bowls, tacos, or sandwiches.
Freeze them whole or cut up for later cooking if you truly do not have time to deal with them now. (Just wash and freeze!)
Make tomato pie, bruschetta, tomato toast, caprese, or a very tomato-heavy salad.
Three Recipes to Make a Dent in the Tomato Pile
Classic Panzanella Salad
This is an especially good use for ripe slicing and heirloom-style tomatoes because all that tomato juice becomes part of the dish rather than something you have to work around. It’s hearty enough for lunch or a light dinner and uses about 2½ pounds of tomatoes.
A great option for tomatoes that are getting very ripe or aren’t quite sandwich-worthy anymore. Slow roasting concentrates their flavor, and once they’re roasted, they're tossed into a simple, summery pasta with garlic, basil, lemon, and other pantry ingredients.
When you want tomatoes to be the actual meal, tomato pie can put a serious dent in a pile of big slicing or heirloom-style tomatoes. Roasting the tomatoes first concentrates their flavor and helps prevent the dreaded soggy tomato pie.
Our pup Bailey is loving the new concrete! She isn’t allowed in this area when veggies are present, but she has clearly been inspecting our work and, hopefully, finds it satisfactory.
Rebecca Titus she/her/hers
Titus Farms CSA Manager Phone (text or call): 517-910-3002
Email: csa@titusfarms.com or rebecca@titusfarms.com WhatsApp Rebecca
