It is officially BLT season at Lennie’s. Nothing says Indiana summer like the bright, juicy, full flavor of Indiana tomatoes that ripened under the heat of the August sun.
Each summer, we look forward to this time of year, but this year has come with additional anticipation, as we are using organic heirloom tomatoes grown at our very own Loesch Farm. This is our first year of serious tomato production at the farm, and it has been a great success. We put 792 plants in the ground on May 20th and had them mulched and staked within two weeks. We grew them organically and used captured rainwater to supplement the tomatoes’ irrigation system. Some varieties are doing better than others, but each has their own unique flavor, and we expect to yield 2,500 pounds!
Jeff Mease and Floyd Rosenbaum have done the majority of the farming with the help of a few volunteers. When asked about the work, Jeff said, “Floyd and I both love to garden, so the time we’ve given it, which does feel a lot like work sometimes, also feeds our souls.”
As Jeff and Floyd fed their souls farming in the summer sun, we have anxiously awaited the first harvest. We couldn’t wait to start serving these fresh, organic beauties in the restaurant. There is something special about serving a tomato that was conscientiously grown just a few miles away, picked in the morning, and served that same afternoon.
The tomatoes aren’t the only thing that makes our Loesch Farm BLT special. Chef Fred makes the bacon in-house from fresh pork sides sourced from Fischer Farms and English Black Heritage Pigs raised at Loesch farm. He begins the process by rubbing on a mixture of salt and sugar and allowing it to cure for six days. After being cured, he rinses off the salt and allows the pork sides to dry overnight. The following day he smokes the bacon over Cherry and Applewood for a couple of hours before cooking it and slicing it into thick-cut slices, perfect for BLTs.
We are thrilled to have Loesch Farm in our family of businesses, allowing us to produce unique, fresh food, exclusively for us, to share specifically with you.