Crumb Trail

Orchard Hill Farms

Over 8,000 apple trees offering 26 varieties of apples, now that's mind boggling.  Such a little sign for such a huge operation.

Located in Kendallville, IN at 11061 E 415 N (Lisbon Rd), you will find this orchard.  As you enter the drive, be sure to avoid the drive and parking lot to your right (its for employees) and instead stay on the drive to your left, park in
the grass and enter the large building straight ahead of you.

Once inside you will find the apples available for sale, bagged and clearly marked by variety and bag weight (3, 5, and 10 pound bags).

I choose a 5 pound bag of Honeycrisp, a variety available September through December at their orchard.  They describe theses apples in their brochure as "Extremely large apple with a mottled red- orange color.  Very crisp and juicy, this apple has a tangy sweet flavor.  Excellent for eating, baking, just about everything.  If you haven't tried one, you should!"  I had never eaten one of these before, people around me were grabbing up bags of them, so I joined in and have been richly rewarded.  Sweet, delicious, jjuicy, unexpected flavors.  My husband and I love it.  I am going to bake with this apple too, and see what I get.

Right now they have Gala, Golden Supreme, Gold Delicious, Honeycrisp, and many others.  Give them a call or go to their website you won't be disappointed.  They are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

They also have for sale, all natural apple butter (no sugar added and apples the only ingredient), (I bought this too and it will be part of my breakfast tomorrow), apple syrup, and apple jelly.  Apple cider will be available for sure starting Monday (maybe as early as this Saturday, but for sure next week).

This farm, as stated in their brochure, "was established in 1972, (when) there were nine existing orchards in the Kendallville area.  These were mostly pick-your-own operations, so Orchard Hill developed a wholesale market with area retailers.  In 1995, when the last orchard of the original nine closed, Orchard Hill added their own farm market, offering 26 apple varieties.  Also in 1994, a second farm was planted with an experimental block to test newer apple varieties."

Bruick Brothers Orchard

Beautiful, perfect apples!  Pick your own or buy ready picked in the farm store.  This orchard is located  at 12818 Edgerton Road, New Haven, IN.   Easy to find from either the 469 and Hwy 24 interchange or the 469 and Rt 30 interchange as the farm is located between Hwy 30 and Hwy 24 just east of the interchanges. 

Prime for picking right now are their Cortland, Gala, Jonathon, Fuji, Spigold, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Empire.  Starting September 27th they will have Ida Red and then on October 2nd Rome and Mutsu should be available.  U-pick hours are Saturdays and Sundays 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday - Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

They also have available their own apple butter, and apple cider, as well  as pumpkins, mini-pumpkins, gourds, squash, tomatoes, and mums.

If you have any questions or need directions they can be reached at (260) 749-0891.

a small Amish farm stand

Located just off of SR 37 and just North of the 469 and SR37 interchange, is Ehle Rd.  This farm's address is 14030 Ehle Road and it is a treat.  They will still have corn for one more week, and right now they have beautiful cherry tomatoes, red tomatoes, sweet onions, red potatoes, butternut and spaghetti squash as well as pumpkins.  All are at prices that you will be hard pressed to beat by shopping anywhere else.

tomatoes

Dried garlic and perfect tomatoes of every kind .                                           
So, I am crazy excited when I arrive at 3711 Hartzell Rd in New Haven and find dried garlic, red and yellow tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes (all of which are the most perfect to date).  I am a tomato lover, to put it mildly.  I count out the days each year, dramatically, with agony and anxiousness, for the few (so it seems to me) days when our own Indiana tomatoes are available to us.  When they first appear, I go crazy...buying at ridiculous prices, those precious red, green, or yellow orbs.

The physician that I  worked for, for over 20 years, grows the biggest, most delicious tomatoes, and sweetly provides me with a portion of his abundance of organic tomatoes in late August of each year.  So, I am royally spoiled.

There is no end to what I can do with tomatoes.  Indiana's cherry tomatoes are right there with chocolate, in my mind.  Meant to be picked up and eaten judiciously, all day long.  The perfect snack.

Roma tomatoes are perfection when roasted in a low oven, with olive oil, sugar, and garlic (recipe to follow).  And then tomato sauce "beginnings" (recipe here for you also) to freeze in Zip-Lock baggies, and pull out all winter long to make the best sauce for pasta or pizza or chili.

Today, at this farm stand, I could only stand there and sigh in delight.  Where to start was my biggest problem.

Roasted Roma Tomatoes Slow-Roasted Balsamic Tomatoes recipe from Leanne Kitchen's The Produce Bible, p. 356

    "10 firm plum tomatoes
    8 garlic cloves
    1/3 C superfine sugar
    4 Tbsp torn basil leaves
    4 tsp chopped oregano leaves
    few drops good-quality balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.  One two baking sheets with baking paper.  Cut each tomato lengthwise into quarters and put the quarters in rows on the baking sheets.

Mix the garlic with the sugar, basil, oregano, and balsamic vinegar.  Using clean fingers, put a little of the mixture onto the sides of each tomato quarter and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.  The tomatoes are ready when they are slightly shriveled at the edge and semi dried (they should still be soft in the middle).  Eat warm or cold and store in the refrigerator.  Serve with barbecued lamb cutlets, beef steak, or as part of an antipasti collection."

My take:  Use these tomatoes on your pizza or in your pasta.  Use just 5 Roma tomatoes, by the time you quarter them, you have 20 pieces.  Use them to top your bruschetta, or your tomato soup.  Eat them deliciously dropped into your mouth.

Fresh Tomato Sauce.   I cut this recipe in half, I do not add the tomato paste or the onions and/or the garlic cloves (I do that when I decide what I am going to use these tomatoes for).  I freeze this sauce in 2 cup incremtents in zip lock baggies, ready for anything.

amazing Fall splendor

21415 Monroeville, Rd. Monroeville, IN.  You must visit here!  What a delightful surprise...well, not entirely a surprise.   A friend of mine told me about this farm, and thankfully I followed up and made a visit.                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                 Gourds, a huge variety, 6 for $1.00.    Red tomatoes, again, 6 for $1.00 and Roma tomatoes, squash, zucchini, apples, green peppers, Indian corn in bunches of three. 

Pumpkins, I bought a big one, 13 inches wide
and 12 inches tall, weighing 26 pounds,
for $2.00.    Oh yes, and the green gourd next
to my pumpkin, was $1.00.

They also have sheaves of corn stalks for sale.
Everything you could want to decorate for Fall.

You will so love looking at all the amazing colors and shapes of gourds and trying to decide what you want.  And at these prices, you can indulge.

season changes

As we move from one season into another, our produce options also continue to change. 

Hardy's Farm Market on Knoll Road has closed for the summer season but will reopen October 1st. offering Fall decorations and pumpkins.

Nelson's Farm Produce, on US 24 in Huntington, continues to be open and is offering: red and yellow tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, zucchini and summer squash.

Houtz Greenhouse

 Houtz Greenhouse is located at 7918 State Road 1, just outside the south side of Ossian, IN.  Their home has a circle drive which makes for easy access on and off State Rd 1.

They offered, red and green peppers, zucchini, squash, apples, pears, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, onions, eggplant, and sweet banana peppers.

Their hours were not posted, but there is a lock box to deposit your money in when no one is around.

Dafforn's Sweet Corn & Produce

Located 1 1/4 mile off of State Rd 1 (on the county line road dividing Allen and Wells Counties), in Yoder, IN, is Dafforn's Sweet Corn & Produce.

I visited this farm stand on Tuesday of this week and immediately regretted not finding the Dafforns earlier in the season.  On Tuesday, they had a beautiful and bountiful assortment of produce.

Red and yellow tomatoes, yellow grape tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, onions, green peppers, squash, and pie pumpkins.

Dafforn's is open Monday - Friday from 9am to 8pm, and on Sundays from 1pm to 8pm.  Their address is 1616 E 1200 N, Yoder, IN (just north of Ossian).  This is a beautiful farm, with a great indoor facility and plenty of parking.  I was so impressed by their produce and their prices on my first visit Tuesday, that I returned Thursday, taking a friend with me.  Next season, believe me I will be a customer as soon as I know they are open in the Spring.

Louisville Ironman

So, what was the big event for our family this passed weekend?  Our youngest son finished the Ironman in Louisville, KY on Sunday the 31st.  We are so, so proud!  What an incredible physical and mental accomplishment!  Their were 1,975 finishers, our son finished in the top half.  We are thrilled by his perseverance, his dedication to training, his enthusiasm, and his sense of humor.

As parents, we could not be prouder, but we realize that this talent was given to him by God.  Our son, has just used this gift carefully and wisely and in the process has given us his parents, an incredible memory.

We in fact have two sons, so gifted, we are in awe of what we were entrusted with.  How thrilling for us as parents to see the two of them embrace at the race's end.

Ironman:  Swim 2.4 miles
                   Bike 112 miles   
                   Run 26.2 miles

3 Rivers Food Co-op

Here at our 3 Rivers Food Co-op in Fort Wayne you will also find locally grown produce, organic and conventional.

The store, located at 1612 Sherman Street, is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to
9 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Visit their web site and see all they have to offer.