There are 12 months in a year.  Tomato harvest begins in mid-July, then continues until the end of August (well, maybe a bit longer if it is a good year and diseases and critters doesn't wipe out the plants!). 


So at best, that means it is possible to feast on the very best tomatoes imaginable for around 10% of the year.   Think about that - if seeds get started in February, the plants get set out in May - nearly 50% of the year is spent pondering, planting, watering, staking, weeding and feeding....all for the incredible pleasures of those home-grown tomatoes for a period of time that hardly seems fair!


But I will choose to look at the bright side - that much-anticipated time is at hand!  Instead of Sue and I fighting for the single ripe Mexico Midget or Sungold, there are numerous speckles of red and gold on those two plants - soon we will have a bowl of each of them on the counter.  Joining them soon will be Green Doctors, Tiger Tom, Variegated and Kimberly.  And best of all, there are two perfect, 12 ounce, ready to eat Cherokee Chocolate all ready to eat tomorrow.  And I noticed that Cherokee Green is starting to blush, along with Speckled Roman.  


So, for the next few months, we will pick, eat, assess, discuss - it will be all about oven roasted sauce, Pasta Salads, and, when the counters are full, we will embark on our annual canning ritual.  Because the best way to relive these great summer tomato harvesting months is to pull out a quart jar of home-canned tomatoes...and start cooking!

Some of you have been to A Southern Season cooking schools that I've been involved with over the years (they are great fun, and great value!).  There is an event coming up that will focus on...TOMATOES!  Marilyn Markel, who manages the school, will team up with Alex Hitt (owner of Peregrine Farms and one of the first farmers in this area to discover Cherokee Purple...this was how we met, in fact!) and me to provide a fun class with eating, tasting, information and the opportunity to ask any questions that come to mind.  


The link to the event is here - 


https://www.southernseason.com/class/event.asp?id=19267


Of all of the tomato-related activities I do over the season, I think the Cooking School sessions are the most fun.  And if you've not been to a class at A Southern Season, you are in for a treat - it is a state of the art facility, and the classes are run really, really well.


So, this is a plea to click the link, sign up - and I hope to see some of you there!  


(ps...you can always treat it as a prelude to Tomatopalooza, which takes place the following weekend, on July 31!)