I had been feeling pretty good about keeping up with the garden’s bounty this year and was trying to get an early start on canning and freezing the extras. Then I took last weekend off from farming and went to the Pendleton Round-Up for a mini vacation, and all of a sudden I was buried in a mountain of tomatoes. I always plant several varieties of tomatoes ranging from small early maturing varieties to the late jumbo heirloom varieties in an effort to spread out the timing of the tomato onslaught, but I’ve come to realize that it’s just no use because when they come on, they come on with a vengeance! I spent the better part of the weekend alternately harvesting tomatoes, roasting tomatoes, making marinara, canning marinara, putting on my rain gear for another round of harvesting and canning, and finally feeding the overly ripe and reject tomatoes to the chickens. Everyone loves tomatoes after all. In between batches of marinara, I made and froze 3 pints of pesto, and harvested enough eggplant, zucchini, anaheim chilis, cucumbers, and kale to supply us with delicious garden fresh meals all week. Life is busy, but very good, at 5R Farm!
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