preserving tomatoes, dreaming of cheese

put up today:

12 quart jars
4 pint jars
4 quart freezer containers


that's 4.5 gallons of preserved tomato sauce.

the tomato invasion is almost finished. the stove has been running nearly continuously all day long, and thankfully it is a nice crisp autumn day. my parents are even putting cold frames on the garden because there are a lot of unripe tomatoes still on the vines, but tonight it will get down to the 30s for the first time, so they need a little help. they are raised beds, so now they look like little greenhouses made from scrap windows -- all salvaged from the old cabin that was torn down on the property.

i am dreaming of making cheese for my next kitchen project.


i realize i mainly want to live in an old farmhouse because it would have a nice cold cellar to keep things in. like vegetables, homebrew beer, wine, and preserved things. it is hard to follow heritage foodways when you don't have a proper cold cellar.