Recently my parents were visiting from Maryland. I love having family visit when the field is in full production, they can see and taste all the different crops that are growing. But of course this is also my busiest time of year with long days of harvesting, restaurants to deliver to, and markets to attend.
Even though my parents don’t work in agriculture they have learned over the years that when you visit Andrea during the growing season, you’re gonna have to come to the farm if you wanna spend time with me. Since my parents are awesome, they do just that. Waking early to go to the field to harvest tomatoes from the very tiny to the large and delicate. They help me set up at the farmers’ market and even bringing me coffee as I hustle to assist the customers.
As a farmer you often run into the dilemma of being so busy during the bountiful harvest that you have no time to put up food for the winter. It is a frustrating state, to be surrounded by tons of tomatoes that are soft or split begging to be turned into sauce, with zero time in your schedule, so you dump them into the compost heap. But while my parents were here, my dad was inspired (twice) to make tomato sauce.
He made enough to keep my cupboards full this winter with jars upon jars of his patent sauce. I sent them back to the east coast with a case of tomatoes and winter squash packed snuggly in their suitcases.