We got more rain than we needed (almost 4 inches), but we are thankful for the break from irrigation. Planting, cover cropping, and harvest continues. We brought in a bountiful spaghetti squash crop, and delicata and acorn squash are ready to be harvested as well. Onions, shallots, and garlic are waiting to be cleaned and sorted.
Tomato season continues - with bountiful paste and slicing tomatoes. We're freezing chopped paste tomatoes in gallon freezer bags to turn into canned sauce later in the year. Once the weather is cooler and our days are less full, we'll thaw the tomatoes, run them through our food mill, cook them down, and can them for sauce and soup. I also roast tomatoes to freeze. It concentrates the tomato flavor and, once thawed and pureed, makes amazing tomato soup or a quick sauce for pasta. If you are hoping to put up tomatoes, I would plan to do it this week or next. The cooler weather will slow down the ripening of tomatoes and increase the chance of our plants succumbing to disease. It has been an amazing tomato season! I don't ever remember seeing so many beautiful heirlooms or the tomatoes tasting as good as they do this year.
If you have tomatoes sitting on your counter - make this tomato soup. It is from Alice Waters' Art of Simple Food, one of my go-to cookbooks. The soup is simple and delicious, and this cooler weather calls for soup!
Your Farmers,
Craig and Lauren
