Tomato Season: Gardening Tips and Summer Farro Salad Recipe

Lately the salad that keeps making its way to my table has a base of toasty farro topped with ripe heirloom tomatoes, juicy plums, and grilled corn plus handfuls of fresh herbs. The dish encapsulates everything I love about summer – sweetness, char, and that unmistakable flavor of the season’s tomatoes.   Of the vegetables I grow, tomatoes are the ones I cherish most and check on throughout the day.

Whether you enjoy the ritual of growing and tending to tomatoes or love picking them from the market, this advice will help you make the most of tomato season in full swing.  The tips are designed for cooks and gardeners alike, intermingled in the way growing food and making meals are intertwined.  I’ve also included the easily adaptable recipe for that delicious farro salad.

Harvest Blushing Tomatoes

When tomatoes blush in pink, yellow, or red over half their skin, they can be harvested and allowed to ripen on the counter indoors.  This helps to prevent them from being consumed by deer, insects, and other animals that may wish to take the first bite.  Good tomatoes are also rather heavy for their size, and removal from the vine helps to avoid them falling off during a storm and being damaged.  Once a rich color develops over the entire tomato, the flavor is ideal for cooking or enjoying raw.  Market tomatoes similarly can be ripened more fully on the counter to achieve desired ripeness.

Lend Tomato Plants Good Support

As we head deeper into summer, certain tomato plants tend to grow quite massive, and individual tomatoes grow heavier.  Determinate plants reach a predetermined height, while indeterminate ones continue to grow and produce more stems, which gives them a tendency to flop and become unwieldy.  A good support system of stakes, trellises, or cages for all tomato plants is important, with indeterminate varieties requiring upwards of 6 feet of support.  Soft and flexible strips of fabric or string can be used to gently tie the main stem to a support.  I also prefer to tie large stems so they don’t break as fruit grows heavier and continue to adjust supports throughout the season.

Enjoy Raw Tomatoes in a Farro Salad Recipe

Summer recipes are best when adaptable, and I encourage you to use as many of the following ingredients as you have on hand or find delicious.

Ingredients

½ cup uncooked farro
About 12 ounces ripe tomatoes
3 ripe plums
2 ears sweet corn
Handful of fresh soft leafy herbs such as dill, parsley, and basil
Vinaigrette (my preferred version in next section)

Cook the Farro: For the toastiest farro, allow rinsed grains to dry then give them a quick cook in a dry skillet over medium heat, just until the grains smell nutty, about 3 to 5 minutes based on the amount of farro. While optional, this imparts extra toasty flavor to the salad.  Next cook toasted or uncooked farro in a large pot of salted water until the grains retain some texture and are chewy not mushy with a tender center.  The amount of time will vary based on whether the farro is whole, semi-pearled, or pearled.  For the salad pictured, I cooked ½ cup semi-pearled farro in 4 ½ cups boiling water and ½ teaspoon salt until grains were tender but not mushy, about 20 to 25 minutes.  Once cooked, I spread the grains on a baking sheet to release steam and cool. 

Prepare the Corn: I prefer to grill the corn for this recipe, though it could be cooked in your preferred style.  If grilling, husk and remove the silk, then brush with oil and cook on a grill pan or in a skillet over medium-high for up to 10 minutes depending on the size of the corn.  Turn occasionally so char marks appear in sections on all sides.  Let cool slightly then slice carefully down all sides of the cob to release their kernels.

Slice the Remaining Ingredients and Dress the Salad: Slice ripe tomatoes and plums as desired. Chop the herbs then toss with farro and a drizzle of the vinaigrette below.  Add the tomatoes, plums, and corn, drizzle, and toss again.

Dress Tomato Salads with Vinaigrette

Each season I tend to have a house dressing I use more often than others, with this one being perfect for summer ingredients. Two kinds of vinegar and a creamy texture make it irresistible.

For the smoothest texture, combine the ingredients below using an immersion or stand blender. Alternately, whisk by hand slowly adding oil as the last step. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste then let the flavors meld before drizzling.

Ingredients

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon finely minced shallot (optional)
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Give Tomatoes the Heat They Love

Tomatoes love heat, outdoors and in the kitchen.  After they have grown in the warmth of the sun, even when the days are just so hot, I roast them cut-side-up in the oven to concentrate that summer tomato flavor. They come out like the best version of themselves.  With much less liquid than raw tomatoes, their texture is ideal for adding to a baked dish.  Often mine wind up being cooked one more time in a quiche brimming with summer vegetables for one more dose of what they love.

Attract Pollinators to the Tomato Garden

Though tomatoes are self-pollinating, a good breeze or the buzzing of bees moves the process forward, often leading to more yield.  Since pollinators help the garden and spaces beyond to thrive, I incorporate plenty of flowers they find attractive such as coneflowers and bright marigolds. They zip here and there, ensuring an abundance of tomatoes through late in the season.