Daily Archives: January 7, 2010

Brrrrrr... The view from the back office today. You get a chill just looking at that sky!

Welcome winter!  The last thing you want is to be wet in this kind of cold.  But tomatoes?  They need water to survive temperatures 33 degrees and below.  So says Michael Borek of Teena’s Pride. We get our heirlooms as well as other vegetables, salad mixes, micro greens, and herbs from Borek, so we thought you might be curious as to how he is managing the well being of his crops in the cold snap.  Here’s what he had to say this morning:

We were out all night watching the temperature.  It didn’t go below freezing, but it got close… At 33 degrees, we turn on the sprinklers in the field, where we grow conventional tomatoes. When the water freezes at night around each tomato, it holds the crop at that temperature and they can be saved. We’re most worried about this weekend, on Sunday night and early Monday morning.  It’s really supposed to dip then. Everything in hydropics is fine though.  We put up the plastic walls…  At first our volume may go down when we harvest during this kind of weather, but not by that much…

Teena's Pride heirlooms

WSVN Channel 7 News is sending a crew this afternoon to interview our Michael at the restaurant on the cold, and its affect on our suppliers and menu.  Chef will also talk about how this Sunday’s Dinner in Paradise has been rescheduled in anticipation of the freezing temperatures. Here’s what owner/grower Gabriele Marewski, the farm dinner co-host along with chefs Clay Conley of Azul at the Mandarin Oriental, Michael Bloise, and Sean Brasel of Meat Market, sent to guests:

Dear Guest,

Hope you are staying warm, we’d like to keep you that way.

So, due to the chilly weather we have moved this Sundays dinner to January 31, 2010.

Please call me at 305/248-4181 Monday through Friday 9:00am to 2:00pm if this date does not work for you or reply to this email so we can reschedule your reservation. Check out our website at www.paradisefarms.net for a list of other dinners.

Thank you and see you soon.

Happy New Year,

Gabriele

If you plan to dine with us at MGFD during the chilly weather, make a reservation early and request inside seating.  Otherwise, don’t worry, we won’t turn the sprinklers on you outside.  We have plenty of cozy heaters on the patio to keep you from freezing!