Veggies with Sol

How many restaurants do you know of that grow, harvest and process their own organic veggies and deliver them directly to your table in the form of delicious salads, salsas and soups? Sol does! Check out these pics of our awesome, super flavorful, pesticide and insecticide-free veggies.





We weren't sure how this crop would turn out given the dry summer we had, but I feel I've developed what is a pretty good method for producing (at least) tomatoes. I plan on expanding production next year to provide even more of our fresh veggies including squash, strawberries, lettuces, cabbage, etc. There was only so much time this year as we were of course concentrating on getting the restaurant itself going, but each year I expect we will be able to expand production. This year I concentrated on tomatoes as we use a ton of those (maybe literally) for our fresh fire-roasted salsa, salads and for (when Chef Jeff makes it), our delicious Gazpacho soup. Coming soon as a special, by the way, read the blog about our upcoming specials for more about that.

To grow these vegetables chemical free, I start with a technique I picked up from the U-pick fields we used to go to when we lived in Miami. They mound the rows, cover them with plastic and plant the strawberries and tomatoes. There is no weeding. I also do not water the plants all summer either. Only when the plants are put in the ground and that's it. They are pretty much on their own from April until September. I feel like letting the plants grow naturally instead of babying them allows them to develop stronger roots, leading to a healthier plant better drought and pest resistance, etc. I only stake and reinforce the plants as they get larger. This year has been extra hard to keep the plants upright because they have grown SO large. This year I used compost from Integration Acres. Chris Chmiel brought over two truckloads and I am not sure if it was the compost or not, but I have never have tomato plants with such a high yield of fruit, especially considering the dry summer.





So here they are, extremely flavorful, colorful, and sweet tomatoes, with more flavor than you will ever find from anything store bought. I expect we will be able to supply ourselves almost entirely through the end of September if we are lucky, so hopefully you will come in and experience the difference of locally, organically grown direct to restaurant produce before the season is over!