10 September 2013

Oh! The Tale End of Summer!

Oh Summer! The weekend before last, a friend and I picked and canned tomatoes. I met her outside her home in the early morning hours and we traveled out to the Valley to a farm where, on Labor Day weekend, you can pick your own roma tomatoes for 25 cents a pound. It was still cool when we arrived at the farm, though you could feel the hint of the day's heat steadily tugging round your neck.
There was something so striking about the long, early morning shadows stretched across the field. Children were darting in and out of the rows and the faintest drops of dew still hung on spider web's strung across the wooden posts.
You could hear the lilted sing-song of a generation of older Italian families who came here annually to spend the day harvesting these deep hued vines. For us, it was almost over too fast. It seemed to take us no-time at all to pick the tomatoes. Between us we had over hundred pounds ~to add more than that seemed folly.
The sun was still reaching its bright morning stance when we returned home and started the sorting, the cleaning and the culling. It took us a while to get used to the tomato strainer (one a bit larger and built slightly different than the one here), but after that the tomatoes took almost no-time at all to peel and strain. Then we set about to making the sauce and canning the accomplishments. 

My friend is no stranger to canning, she is actually quite the accomplished chef, but on that particular day, the kitchen felt like an oven, and if anything, it was the the one thing that wore us out the most. 

However, it was a good sort of exhaustion, the type that comes from a day well spent
I am wondering however, just how long these cans of sauce will last in our tomato loving household. 

Well they might not make it all the way to next summer, but they have left me with an itch to get more canning done before we are thrust head long into cooler days and darker nights. xxoo

11 comments:

  1. This post reminds me of my mom - we just talked about all the tomatoes she is harvesting in the garden. I cannot wait to do this in our house - hopefully wherever that may be. I don't think the jars would last long in our house either. I love the photos of the roma's.
    Chey xo

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  2. Every summer we have Roma tomato plants pop up in the garden out of nowhere ... the result of a single planting years ago ... and I always end up with SO many tomatoes that I never know what to do with them all. This year I may just have to give making tomato sauce a go ... you've inspired me :0)
    xx

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  3. fabulous....i have a garden full of toms at the moment! Canning though...i am not domestic goddess enough! picking and cutting and squirting salad cream on them is as far as i get! xxx

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  4. Oh my! I LOVE tomatoes and always wanted to try canning - you make it look effortless!

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  5. That's wonderful! My in-laws are Italian, but we haven't canned tomatoes for years. I really miss the taste of the sauce we used to make with those jars!

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  6. O your photos.....so warm and soupy today!!! Love them:~)

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  7. Making me want to go do some canning :)

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  8. Love your take on the summer foliphoto prompt. Saving some of that summer goodness for the fall season ahead.

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  9. Wonderful. Those tomatoes will be delicious in the depths of winter.

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  10. a quarter a lb.? Wow. What a steal! And what beautiful specimens you got yourself.
    I have never done canning and can't seem to grow enough to do it.
    NEXT YEAR!
    XO

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  11. oh so lovely! I tried canning last year and had a difficult time with it. Everything I canned turned out wacky. I did however make some salsa that turned out okay. Would love to try it again, maybe I need someone with more experience to help out.

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hello there! I love it so when you leave a bit of a note to let me know how you are and what you are thinking. I always love to hear about the things inspiring you and moving you through your day.

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