The Harvest is Beginning

For the next couple of weeks I think that painting is going to take a back seat to gardening and harvesting food. I was trying to divide time equally between the two activities, but I can no longer pretend that I have the time for both. Since I am charged with the full time care of my three kiddos, painting, gardening and food preservation used fall into the cracks in my days and often lead to late nights. Due to my husband's recent change in work schedule to four work days/week however,  I have one full day each week to work on rebuilding a little professional niche for myself. I was hoping that with this new schedule this summer I wouldn't have to compromise as much as previous years. I still consider gardening and harvesting a big part of my contribution to our family and so far painting, although deeply satisfying, has not been as lucrative as a freezer full of food.

I had plans to paint on this week's professional day, but within the first hour of the day I had a big pile of fresh, beautiful tomatoes staring me down. 

I ended up spending a good portion of the day converting them from raw fruit into canned goods instead. I have never canned tomatoes before. I usually puree and freeze them, but last fall my husband decided to take up deer hunting after a 13 or 14 year hiatus and filled our freezer to the brim with venison. So this year, most of the tomato preservation will have to be in a form that doesn't require electricity to store. 

I have to say that I find canning incredibly satisfying. I love the idea of having shelves full of food that I started from seed and nurtured through high heat and drought. I don't have to question if pesticides were used, but I don't have to pay extra for organic. I don't have to calculate how many miles the food travelled, how much oil was consumed in the production of my food, or worry about all the waste from the packaging. Nor do I need to worry if workers were maltreated at any point during the production of my food (read Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook for some alarming insight). Yes, I love canning, and if I do it in the evening I treat myself to a glass of wine and some good music while I work.