Tomato Days

Every year my CSA holds an event for members called Tomato Days.  I previously blogged about Strawberry Days, and the concept is very similar.   Crew members at the farm harvest several hundred pounds of tomatoes with imperfections or that are too ripe to get to market.  The farm also supplies onions, basils, peppers, and if we are lucky, eggplant.  CSA members come out and can whole tomatoes, sauce, salsa, and juice until they run out of fuel, either for themselves or their stove.  In the past, the CSA manager also served some mean bloody mary's to help keep us cool in the heat.

This year, a member graciously volunteered to host two Tomato Days at her house in the city.  While I ordinarily like to get out to the farm, a busy travel schedule, rapidly approaching due date, and sweltering heat wave made San Francisco a more attractive option.  Noah and I literally spent the whole day canning - from 8:30 until 4:30 - and put up 22 quarts of sauce.  Below are some shots of the day.

The first batch of tomato sauce.  Note the winter hat.

Crates of tomatoes.  We went on the second day so they were out of peppers and basil.

We took about 20 pounds of tomatoes home with us and continued the canning fun.

This is the first time we tried out a tomato crusher, which mashes the tomatoes for you.  I usually opt for a chunkier tomato sauce, but really enjoyed the results from this method.