Canning tomatoes - get 'em while you can

It's been a really crazy growing season. While I sit here in sipping coffee in my winter fleece, outside the weather is cold and cloudy...and it's August! Usually this time of year I’m giving away tomatoes just to get them out of my house, but not this year. Of the seventeen tomato plants I started with in May six survived and 1.5 are producing ripe tomatoes. The rest just sat there and took up space and nutrients all season. Thank goodness for farmers otherwise my family would have to get through winter eating fewer of my favorite cold weather meals.

Lattin Farms has tomatoes now. Get them while you can!


$15 for a 20 pound box (update - I called today to put in my order and learned that the price is $20 per 20 pound box) or 50¢ a pound for u-pick - all certified organic. Delivery options can be made for Reno. Call the farm at Toll Free: (866) 638-6293 or Local: (775) 867-3750 to order.

Food preserving workshop with Rachael Murphy

This just in....

Whenever the farmers markets are open and gardens are growing it's time to preserve food, but tomato season seems to bring on canning/preserving-fever like no other produce. If you'd like an opportunity to learn more about food preserving from an expert here's one of the last chances of 2009 in Northern Nevada.

Rachael Murphy, a Master Food Preserver, will be at the annual Green Living Festival in Gardnerville on Saturday, September 12. The festival will be in Lampe Park. Rachael's workshop will be in Tent 1 at 10:00. While you're there check out the other events.

If you're planning to preserve tomatos now is the perfect time

Rick Lattin tells me that the Roma tomato season is about to peak so now is the perfect time to order a few lugs and spend some time preserving for those cold season meals. Contact them soon at 427-3750.

Mark and I spent some time in the kitchen last Friday improving our canning skills, listening to music, and doing what we love best...being together and working on a project.

Here's how our canning went:

It's been a great growing year for No. Nev - stock up now!

The weather and food gods have been good to Nevada this year so farmers have a bumper crop this year. Gather some friends or family and take a short trip to Fallon to pick some up. I have 20 bucks and a few hours so I'll be making my wonderful husband enough salsa to last him until Summer 2010. Happy man!

From my inbox to you:

Can we indulge in local food without thinking about canning?

Wow! Is this a crazy year for seriously local-food or what? Everywhere I go people who've never gardened before are looking for community gardens and/or advice about growing food in Nevada. They can’t believe that at this very moment I (a marginal gardener, at best) can walk into my yard and harvest asparagus, lots of lettuce/greens, mustard, broccoli Raab, parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary, salsify, arugula, daikon radish, carrots, and green garlic. And I haven’t really put in much effort yet.

I received an email the other day that got me thinking that we can't really talk about eating more local food without talking about preserving the tasty bounty. And while we're thinking about that why not spend our money in our own community. Here’s what I’ve been thinking…

Freezing our CSA eggs

This post is a little late in the season, for which I apologize. Our CSA egg season is over so these instructions come "after the chicken coop door is closed", but perhaps you can use them next year.

I like to have eggs on hand year-round. Since chickens don't naturally lay year round (at least that's what I've been told by my chicken-friends) I freeze a supply for those inevitable cold season ice cream cravings. Here are the instructions I use.

And to Lauren at Prism Magic....Thanks for asking!