WILD HARE WEEKLY SUMMER#16/18

I just scrambled in from the pepper beds, soaked from a squall of rain that swept through just a moment ago.  The farm, both our fields and our people, have nearly forgotten what it is like to feel rain like this.  It marks a significant transition in our Harvest year.  The lettuces and fall brassicas will love it, but in the open field, our field tomatoes will likely succumb to splitting and decay.  It has been a beautiful run, but now it is time to be sure and tuck some away to savor over the next few months.  In fact, that is what Mark and the crew did with a break in the action last week.  Mark and I used to do a whole lot more things like this, back before we were parents to a child and owners of a business.  Some of you out there reading this are marvelous preservers, and trust me, Mark is one of the best know.  (Someday, I hope we can extract him from his tractor long enough to host one of our infamous “Putting up with Mark” workshops). But at some point for us, boiling up a water bath canner and chasing a child around the house just didn’t go hand in hand.  So, when a member of the CSA asked me to send out some advice on how to preserve food in lieu of recipes this week, I found myself initially digging into the archives of my brain, longing for simpler times (ha!).  But the more I thought about it, the more inclined I was to share with you what preservation actually looks like for us, busy farmers and tired parents who are surrounded by infinite potential and an endless collection of (empty) mason jars.