Down on the Farm

This past Sunday my husband and I took an unexpected trip out to see his aunt and uncle who have a farm east of Indianapolis. I had never been to the farm before, despite hearing about it almost since we started dating in our freshman year of college. Literally three weeks after we started seeing each other (at the still awkward age of 19) he rolled through Chicago with his dad and grandma on their way out to Indiana. We all went out to dinner, some of us more terrified than others, and they described the farm to me. Somewhere between the haze of meeting my future in-laws for the first time and the delicious Italian food, the farm really stuck out for me. It sounded like a little slice of heaven.

In my wildest dreams I abandon my lifestyle to run a farm. I don't know where my compulsions to raise chickens and bees and goats come from, but they've been a persistent desire of mine for many years. Whenever things get rough professionally or personally, there's a tickle at the back of my mind that somewhere, somehow, there's a tiny parcel of land that could have my name on it.

I don't know if my daydreams will ever come true, but in the meantime I was thrilled for the chance to visit with my husbands' relatives. His aunt and uncle are truly spectacular people, who will always have a special place in my heart for playing Irish music at our wedding ceremony. Spending time with them was a pleasure, and getting a trip to the farm was like icing on the cake. We visited their larger fields, which are mostly the midwest standard of corn and soybeans, but they also have beef cattle, chickens, and an incredible vegetable garden.

We met some new friends...

These were the young ladies, who were still growing and maturing.

Some of them were very excited to meet me.

This was The Bull and His People. Apparently this bull really likes to have company?

There were also chickens! Lots of chickens, though I only got a good close-up of this nice lady. When I saw them I got very excited (they're mini dinosaurs!), and my husband warned that I should "not chase the chickens." His aunt, thinking he was telling the dogs, said that they were pretty well behaved and didn't normally chase the chickens. We had to explain that this was in fact not who he was referring to.

Then there was the vegetable garden. With the 200-250 tomato plants, of over 70 varieties.

And all this for a household of three.

Which meant there were lots of tomatoes. LOTS of tomatoes.

Also, some funky squash, some of which had decided that the tomato cages were the perfect place to grow.

I'm sharing the tomato garden pictures to help explain how this happened -

This is what my husband's aunt and uncle sent us home with. A dozen fresh eggs, a bag of potatoes, 28 ears of sweet corn, and what we estimated was 50 pounds of tomatoes. Plus a whole bowl of incredible cherry tomatoes.

It's not hard to guess how I spent my labor day.

With about eight hours of work, we managed to can about 90% of the tomatoes (the other 10% got thrown in bags in the fridge). In total, we got six cans of salsa, and twelve quarts of tomatoes for lunch and dinner recipes.

Here are the salsas, which had a little corn thrown into them. The more yellow one on the right came from the cherry tomatoes, and is a lot sweeter than the other jars.

These are the stewed tomatoes, some of which got herbs and onions thrown in and some of which were just regular. The jar of golden tomatoes may be my favorite. I think it's going to make a stunning pasta during the winter.

By the end, I was pretty tired of standing over a hot oven, and started hot packing the smaller tomatoes whole. Took less time, but I'll end up working harder when I use them in meals. It's funny, I think they look like a taxidermy jar with floating specimens in it (though don't tell my husband that).

Now I just have a greater itch to homestead. It might be time to really develop those gardening plans for the spring and summer, though I'll be restricted to container crops. For now, I can be satisfied that I'll have tomatoes until probably the next growing season, all thanks to the incredible generosity of my aunt- and uncle-in-law. Thanks guys!

- Caity