Playing Ketchup

I’ve been meaning to make home-made ketchup ever since it became obvious that I was going to have a bumper crop of tomatoes. That resolution became stronger when I realized I’d been the victim of a tomato bait and switch and my tomatoes, though prolific, were going to be very uninteresting eaten raw. For this adventure, I started with a British cookbook, Jellies, Jams...

Crop Conspiracy Theory

Okay, something or someone is clearly conspiring against my farming success. It’s bad enough that we’re having what seems like the coldest summer in 25 years. Well, that could go either way. On the upside, the longer, slower ripening might allow us to make a mellower, lower alcohol wine — more like the French Rhônes we’re trying to emulate than a typical...

What’s Growing On?

I’m getting that first terrible inkling that organic farming is not going to be as easy as I thought it would be. And I didn’t go into this naively. I bought the books, I attended gardening seminars at the local nurseries, I almost gave it up because it all sounded so complicated. Then I took the plunge and just planted some stuff. Easy stuff, like tomatoes, corn, peppers...

Under the Worm Moon

I have a great app for my iPhone. It’s called Moon Phase, and it tells me, on any given day, what phase the moon is in and scientific factoids such as how close to the earth it’s passing and what constellation it’s in. It also tells me the name of the moon, depending on who I want to refer to: the English, American Colonial Tradition, Native American, Medieval...

Rainy Days and Mondays

Usually farmers pray for rain. Especially in semi-arid places like California. Except when that rain comes at the end of the growing season and just before harvest. And if you are growing wine grapes. Typically, we shut off the irrigation water (which is only a drip at the best of times) about a month before harvest . That concentrates the flavors of the berry and creates a greater...

Hot Jammin’ Sonoma Style

It was 104 degrees yesterday. We’d done all the prep work for the harvest that we could and we had to escape the sun. Hmmm. What’s a nice cool activity? How about something that requires hours in front of boiling pots in a barn loft with no air conditioning? Yeah! Let’s make jam. Okay, I knew at the time it was a bad idea, but I’ve got batches of tomatoes...