Tomato Time

A platter of tomatoes -- mostly "Early Girl"

Roasted tomatoes with a few carrots and an onion

Roasted Tomato Bisque

     pureed roasted tomatoes (a few carrots and an onion)

     olive oil, salt and pepper during roasting

     water

     drizzled with olive oil and chopped parsley

Hi Winnie and Steve,

Wow, talk about tomato time.  It may seem late for many people to hear talk of tomatoes, but here on the coast the bounty is so great right now.  We hit our stride late in the season!  Our farmer friends, Ned and Ryan, down at Blue House Farm have such great tomatoes.  They raise one of their varieties called "Early Girl" by what they term "dry farmed" methods.  This means they only used a small amount of water to get the plant started, and then they do not water them any more -- thus the term "dry farmed."  I tell you, these tomatoes concentrate their flavor with such sweetness and richness.  I'm making all kinds of meals with tomatoes right now.  One of my favorites is a Roasted Tomato Bisque.

Well, I mention that a birthday just ticked by to put the following lines in some context.  I marvel at the energy and engagement with life the two of you possessed into your eighties.  I definitely see changes in energy.  Although, this has been such a very wonderful year of learning.  Bill Coperthwaite, who knew Scott and Helen Nearing, wrote of Scott, "When people are doing work they enjoy, retirement as we know it now will disappear.  In its place will be the gradual lessening of work as energy wanes.  To mind comes the picture of Scott Nearing in his late nineties, working each day in his garden, writing at the kitchen table, splitting wood, or collecting seaweed for compost . . . contrast this with watching the TV set and waiting for the end."

Thinking of you so often.  Love, Donna