Despite the blight I have got a ton of tomatoes; they aren’t mine, but I’ve got them. The other day my mom was at work and her farmer friend came in and said, “I have a few tomatoes for your daughter. I put them in your car.” She went out at the end of the day to find about 3 baskets of red, juicy tomatoes piled in her backseat.

The farmer probably doesn’t know this, but he’s basically saving my life. I’m convinced that if you ingest enough tomatoes, blueberries, and green tea that you’ll live to a ripe old age with vitality. The problem is, so many of these things are…well…gross come mid-winter. Fruit and veggies getting shipped across the country to Connecticut in January are less than appetizing, so one of the ways I combat this is by making tons of tomato sauce with the over abundance at the end of summer. This year, though, I’ve barely had enough tomatoes to make a single pot.

The first year I made my own sauce I was well into the spring before I ran out of the homemade stuff. I went to the store and bought what had previously been one of my favorite brands of sauce, brought it home, and made dinner. I could not stomach it! It was awful–sweet, and not in the wonderfully good way that comes from using fresh tomatoes. Once you’ve gone homemade, there is just no turning back. This year, though, the outlook wasn’t good. I can’t make sauce without tomatoes.

Then the farmer magically appeared with bushels full of the wonder-fruits! My mom has been stewing those tomatoes for days, in preparation for my arrival over the long weekend. I will bust out the olive oil, garlic, onion, and basil and a few hours later I’ll have enough sauce to get me through until the next growing season.

Not only am I doing something good for myself, but by using local, sustainable produce, I’m doing something good for the environment as well.

Thanks Farmer Larry!