My Sunshine

At Matthews, Dane will have:
Newly dug BIG FAT Red Sweet Potatoes!!
TONS of Beefsteak tomatoes
Some Pinkgirl Tomatoes
Few Heirlooms
WHITE YAMS!!!

At Charlotte, Maria will have:
Some Okra
TONS AND TONS of Beefsteak Tomatoes!!
Few Sungold cherry tomatoes
WHITE YAMS!!!

At Davidson, Marcel will have:
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Pinkgirl tomatoes
Sungold Tomatoes
Red and White Sweet Potato
WHITE YAMS!!!
DRIED TOMATOES (few)
And LOCAL RENN BEE FARM HONEY!

This week it rained again on Tuesday.  The forecast had said 30% chance of light showers.  At 6:30 am - the air was clear and it looked like a promising day.  Marcel and Cass came to help harvest at 8:00 am and by 9:00 am they were running into the barn, hard-won produce in hand and soaking wet and cold from the last 30 minutes of non-stop downpour.  Those two are amazing.  I was packing for the day's deliveries and wondering how badly our produce would melt in the third big rain event in 2 weeks.  We just paid the well off the day before and were looking at the last big crop to meet operational expenses through spring.  It would create hardship to lose the crop at this point.   All day Tuesday, I was glum.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were sunny and dry and the plants bore out their best and most abundant crop yet.  Go figure.   The tomatoes are FAT and JUICY.  Gas prices aside, you would be remiss to not get while the getting is good.  And, trust me, it is GOOD right now!!  

My Mother-in-Law

I would be remiss if I did not mention my mother in law as one of the key players in making Fisher Farms work.  Her full name is Sarah Nathlyn Fisher - but she goes by Nathlyn or Maw Maw.  She was born and raised in Faith, NC - just down the road from where she lives in Salisbury.  She is a little over 25 years old (with some in the bank).  She has the charm/old-school kindness/work ethic that were popular in the 50's.  She always looks put-together and her house and kitchen are perpetually immaculate.  

A housewife in the traditional sense of the term - she almost always has some form of food preparation going on in the background.  "Come on in, I have okree cooling so I can freeze it!"  Or "Look at this big pile of lima beans I spent all day shelling!  My thumb is plum wore out!"  Or "I just put up 100 ears of sweet corn to eat this winter!  My locker is full!!"  Or "I just canned 26 cans of tomato juice for vegetable soup this winter!  Kinard did not want them to go to waste!"  She shakes her head.  "Like we don't have enough!"  (Dane and I are part of the problem on the last one.)

Then for summer fare she is frying squash and frying okra and slicing tomatoes on top of cottage cheese and breaking green beans for canning - oops!  Winter prep again.  Her whole summer gets cooked, canned and frozen away in the abundance of a well maintained southern garden.  I think she is a saint.  Early in our marriage, Dane came in with a bunch of produce from his garden and instructed me to "put it up".  I did not know what "put it up" meant, but it sounded like it might be work.  I laughed at him and went back to my cross stitch. It was his garden, not mine!  Many years have passed and I have taken on some more of the gardening and now find myself too busy to "put it up."  But Nathlyn, she does it all.  When we eat at her house, limas are always perfect.  Vegi-soup, sweet and fresh.  It is embarrassing.   Gregori won't eat my cooking.  I have to take him over to Nathlyn's at least 3 times a week.  It is the only reason he grows.  When he comes, she welcomes him cheerily and offers him something to eat.  Fisher Farms would not run without Nathlyn.  Maw Maw is a great cook and a great woman.

Maria Fisher
fisherfarms1933@gmail.com
704-239-1719
FAX 866-302-4023
www.fisherfarms1933.com

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt