Wednesday Farmstand, Tomato Season's End & Apple Season's Beginning
#59: Summer Happenings @ Featherstone Garden
Welcome to Featherstone’s Garden Happenings Newsletter. Each week we will share a rotating variety of garden updates: from heirloom seasonal produce features, to farm fresh subscriptions, plant-centered recipes, community partners, and more. As a subscriber, you will be the first to know about our Garden Happenings. If you’re not a newsletter subscriber but would like to be, click below to signup.
It’s Not Too Late to Get Your Local Tomato Fix
As summer comes to a close, we’re getting ready to replace our tomato plants with winter greens and root vegetables for the new season. Until then, we have a couple weeks left of tomato forward dishes to take advantage of, like this ‘Local Tomato’ dish from San Morello in Downtown Detroit. Simple yet full or bright summer flavors, this dish is served with shaved Pecorino Toscano, Rosé vinegar, and drizzled with Colatura Di Alici.
You can also find Featherstone tomatoes featured in dishes at other local restaurants including: Madam (Birmingham), Freya (Detroit), Besa (Detroit), Chartreuse (Detroit), Townhouse (Birmingham), Ronin (Royal Oak), and Grosse Pointe Yacht Club.
Pre-order Flower Bouquets by 11am Weds (9/14) for Farmstand pickup
Order a bouquet of fresh blooms that will be ready for pickup at our Wednesday farmstand upon your arrival.
Pickup is at 4178 Lakepointe, Detroit from 12-5:30pm on 9/14.
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Visit our Farmstand this Wednesday
When?: Wednesday, Sept 14 from 12-5:30pm
Where?: 4178 Lakepointe Street Detroit (map it!)
Stop by our MorningSide, Detroit garden today (Wednesday, September 14). We’ll have a rotating variety of fruits, veggies, herbs and flowers from our garden and from local purveyors.
heirloom cherry tomatoes (our specialty)
red noodle beans
black beauty eggplant
sunflower shoots
pea shoots
poblano (ancho) peppers
habanero HOT peppers
Thai HOT peppers
collards
red and green okra
summer squash
corn
fruits from local purveyors: watermelon, cherries, apples, oranges
cut flower bouquets (Pre-order here!)
lemon & black currant jam (from Three Sisters Garden)
a selection of greeting cards by Renee (Woodbine Studio Co.)
Please note: We exclusively sell heirloom cherry tomatoes at our farmstand. Our larger ‘slicer’ heirloom tomatoes are primarily reserved for restaurants who have pre-ordered with us, and therefore only sell them upon request if we have extra on-hand.
Triple Spiced Apple Cake
With fall quickly approaching, and apple season upon us, we have a simple and yummy cake to share in this week’s newsletter. We hope you enjoy it!
Yields: one 9-inch cake
Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut sugar or granulated sugar (or 3/4 cup if you like your cake on the sweeter side)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 medium-large apple, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground all-spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
squeeze of lemon (preferably meyer lemon)
Notes on spice substitutes: If you don’t have all three spices this recipe calls for, I’m suggesting these substitutes: ground coriander, ground ginger, or nutmeg. If you only have cinnamon, you can alternatively add 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon.
Directions:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 9-inch round baking pan with butter, or line with parchment paper.
Step 2
In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the sugar and butter until creamy, (using a hand mixer will make this step easier). Add the flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and egg. Beat well, until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter. Fold in the peeled and diced apples.
Step 3
Scrape the batter (it will be thick!) into your prepared pan, and smooth out the top with your spatula. Squeeze lemon juice on top (about 1 tsp or so), and sprinkle with a pinch of salt (flaky or course ground). Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then serve with a pat of butter, whipped cream, or a scoop of your favorite ice cream for added decadence.
Suggestion: Serve with a hot cup of apple cider, coffee, or tea. ☕️
Thanks for reading!
For more about our garden, check out our website and follow us on instagram (@featherstone.garden). Feel free to email us or comment below with any questions or suggestions. If you’re interested in volunteering at our garden, please fill out this submission form to coordinate a 2-hour block with us.
Have a great week,
Annie, Aaron, Renee + Chili & Bean (our farm cats ₍˄·͈༝·͈˄₎◞ ₍˄·͈༝·͈˄₎◞)
