This is my dining room table, which comfortably seats ten, just about covered end to end in gallon sized ziploc bags of produce - mostly roma tomatoes, but also basil, greens, and epazote.
I picked all this in about forty minutes at my neighbor's farm. My neighbor - known here as Veggie Man - grows organic vegetables on some fifty acres in Custer. He and his wife have been my trade partners all summer. Today we went by there to see about getting some waste veggie oil for Homero to make more biodiesel (we've used up his first two batches and run out of oil). Not only did Veggie man (maybe I should call him Veggie/Oil man) load us up with quality WVO, but he said "go get some tomatoes, for pete's sake, they're all going to waste." His wife added, "and anything else that looks like it's about done."
Luckily, my sister was nearby, so I called her up and we went to TOWN. I think I have something like fifty pounds of romas in the kitchen. They are gorgeous, perfectly ripe, and ready to cook up. The basil I think will become pesto which I will then freeze in ice cube trays. I happen to have pine nuts in the house; go figure. The greens will be eaten as is. As soon as I took a bite of them in the field I realized how hungry I am for chlorophyll.
What a generous couple of people! Of course I gave them all the eggs I had in the house and a batch of goat cheese, but they've basically just given us tomato sauce and vehicle fuel for the winter. They wouldn't take any money. I told Homero he should just sneak over there and give their car a tune-up.
Oh, man! That's totally awesome. I still need to get my hands on some paste tomatoes for sauce...
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes are still little seedlings, in pots, waiting for the soil to warm up so that they can be planted out.
ReplyDeleteIts springtime here in Oz, but you wouldn't know it. The weather is cold and rainy but I'm not complaining about the rain after the drought we've had. I'd just like it to warm up a little so the summer veggies can go in. Then to wait for enough to bottle chopped tomatoes and puree.
I have a 20 litre drum of used veggie oil you can have. LOL. The guy that I promised it to, must be a year ago, hasn't bothered to pick it up...and he lives just around the corner!!
I will have to do a "Google" for epazote, I have no idea what this veg (?)is.
Olive,
ReplyDeleteit's an herb. It's a very strange Mexican herb that smells extremely resinous, not like anything you'd actually think to eat. But I like it. Mexicans use it in beans because it helps with the ... windiness. And it is also a very effective anthelmintic (for worms).
Thanks for the info Aimee, I did google it and found out it is a herb but it didn't tell me about the worms. I'll keep it in mind...for the next time I have worms ! ;-)
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