Prince George's County Farm Features Fresh Flavors

The farmers market is in a transition phase now as summer fruits and vegetables fade out and the squashes, greens and apples make their presence known.

TGIF Farms, or Thank God Its Fresh, has a large stand weekly at the market with three tables, buckets of corn and a bright blue tent.

The 25-year-old farm was the idea of Andrew Turner, a teacher that found a way to supplement his family's income during the summer months.

The farm, which is located just south of Upper Marlboro in a town called Croom, grows a plethora of vegetables from peppers and corn to onions and herbs. Yet, their tomatoes are their moneymakers – and they have a quite a variety, from heirloom to cherry tomatoes.

Dominic Turner, 24, helps his father and mother, Avis, with the farm. He and his four siblings didn't really work on the farm growing up, but he's become more involved since graduating from college.

Turner said the farm is in its transition period, as its string beans, okra, basil and tomatoes sells out, the stand will slowly be filled with butternut squash, acorn squash, sweet potatoes and other fall and winter vegetables.

He said the stand will also carry greens - wild turnip, kale, mustard and collard.

Yet since the weather Thursday was so summery and perfect, I decided to take home some of the farm's fresh corn, tomatoes and hot peppers and make a final dish that blends the seasons. The corn was so sweet after it was boiled and it was firm enough still that it could have been grilled and served with a flavored butter.

I found two recipes that incorporated the tomatoes and corn – a smokey tomato and corn bruschetta and a corn, tomato and roasted green onion salad. As for the hot peppers, a quick salsa is always a simple recipe – where a combination of tomatoes, corn, black beans, peppers, onions and garlic make a great appetizer or accompaniment.

I tweaked this recipe a bit from it's original.

Fall Salad of Corn, Tomatoes, and Oven-Roasted Green Onions

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of honey
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 6 tablespoons sour cream
• 18 green onions (scallions)
• 6 cobs of fresh corn
• 3 cups tomatoes, cubed
• Pam or another oil spray
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of salted water. Add cobs of corn and boil for 4 minutes until kernels are tender. Drain and allow corn to cool.
2. On a baking sheet, place scallions and spray with Pam. Roast in oven for 10 min. or until brown at 450 degrees. Set aside to cool.
3. In a bowl, add vinegar, mustard, tarragon, honey and whisk until everything is blended. Add oil and whisk quickly so that the ingredients combine into a dressing. Add sour cream to mix and blend. Taste the dressing, add salt and pepper to your taste.
4. Take kernels off of the cooled corn, and add to the bowl with dressing. Add chopped tomatoes.
5. Chop scallions and add to the bowl with corn, and tomatoes. Combine ingredients. Taste for salt.

Serve as compliment alongside burgers or chicken.

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1 can of black beans, drained
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 cobs of corn, boiled and kernels removed
• 1 jalepenos or 2 sweet chilis, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• the juice of 1/2 of a lime
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine kernels of corn, tomato, beans, onion, peppers and garlic in a bowl.
2. Add lime juice and mix.
3. Add salt to your liking, start with 1/4 of a teaspoon.