There’s still more fruit to ripen, but picking these will help speed that process.
These vines have been tended all through the long summer, watered and fed at the right times.
Now they repay this care many times over with this abundance of rich sweetness.
Of course there is far more here than I can eat before they start to rot.
This is where the old traditions of sharing and preserving come in.
Domingo is my neighbor and mentor and his crop failed due to a fierce Levante back in July, it will give me enormous pleasure to share these with that most generous of men.
The rest will be stored for use throughout the winter as bottled whole tomatoes and as tomato passata.
The giant preserving pans will soon be on the stove and this hillside will be filled with the smells of cooking fruits.
This is not the end of course as already I’m digging in tons of manure and preparing the land for planting after the onset of the Autumn rains.
Not only that but a few tomatoes will be left on the plants so I can collect the seeds for planting next spring. These will only be from the biggest and plumpest tomatoes.
Planting, eating and sharing remain at the heart of Blue Zone living, not forgetting joy of course.
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Photo: Plum tomato harvest from my huerta at Saladaviciosa. Courtesy of the author.