As steam rises from the canning pots a satisfying assemblage of jars fills the counter. Like other endurance sports, canning is a bit addictive.
And in late August the canning pots, like farmers, get little rest. Batches are getting bigger and we are getting faster. A few days into canning season we’ve already preserved 20 cases for all of us to enjoy.
When in one day you harvest 240 lbs of San Marzanos and that is only one of the 14 tomato varieties for the year and you feed localvores, one must can!
And when one cans heirloom tomatoes you capture the intense deliciousness for the months when the manic growth of an August garden is unfathomable. Say nothing about the colors… Quarts of Yellow Brandywines will help us all endure the winter. There are other ways to save these flavors and nutrients for later… the dryer is humming away filled with sungold tomatoes and others are being frozen such that their freshness and nutrients will be available in the winter.
One grinds away at chores a bit more weary than normal. Phone calls and emails go unanswered. You hit the wall… with a big splash of tomatoes from the new immersion blender! And you get a second wind fed by the color, pushed by the knowledge that harvest crates will fill up again tomorrow with other bounty.
Others inspire you… for us it is always you, our appreciative audience. And this week it was also Mari’s childhood friend Nikki Kimball, who smashed the women’s record running the Long Trail while raising money for Girls on the Run. We’ll be sticking with the canning ultra-marathon.
