Do the greens at the grocery store this time of year NOT inspire you?
I mean between not knowing who's hands have touched them and knowing that they just don't taste fresh... it's hard to really get excited about greens from 2000 miles away.
I get you!
You and I both know that veggies fresh from a real garden, any garden, yours or mine, taste so much better than what you find at the grocery store.
“I thought it was going to be hard and complicated to make!”
Said a participant of my recent class on fermenting vegetables.
And I totally understand how she felt!
Have you ever said that about new things in general?
I know that I certainly have! Sometimes just the thought of doing a new thing can completely overwhelm me. I become convinced that it must be hard and complicated to do, even if it turns out to be really easy to do!
If you’re like us, you’ve been babying those precious tomato plants in the garden for months now. Since Memorial Day to be exact! Seems like forever to wait for a ripe tomato!
Then, all of a sudden, your tomatoes start to ripen. And by September, you’re swimming in tomatoes!
That’s how we feel on the farm, too! Farmer Gene and the crew harvested well over 1000 pounds this week alone.
Your summer gardens are bursting with fresh veggies, especially cucumbers. Or maybe you’re in our CSA and experiencing our farm’s best cucumber year ever…
And that’s no bad thing because in America, a cool, crisp cucumber is just about the definition of summer, right?
I’m a farmer with a huge abundance of fresh veggies at my disposal. And one thing you might be surprised to learn about me is: I don’t can.
What do you mean? Don’t all farmers spend their summer months over a hot water bath processing dozens of jars of veggies?
Maybe many do, and I have in the past. Believe me I know what it’s like. It’s hot. It takes a big chunk of time. And over the years, I’ve found that I don’t like to do it.
Have you ever agreed to something and then realized that it involved more than you bargained for?
Well this weekend I hosted a completely new to me food class at the farm! In fact I don’t consider myself an expert at all in the topic.
Picture me Sunday morning, scrambling around in my kitchen’s sad state of wreckage, trying to pull together 7 different dips in 2 hours for the class later that afternoon. Yes, even re-washing the oily food processor multiple times!
