What I do in my free time

When I don't have much free time (like when I'm supposed to be working), I might do this:

Interactive Landscaping from Andrew Dye on Vimeo.

...and when I have a bit more free time, we might do something like this:

So now you know.

You say tomato.

Last weekend was the first Vernon Homesteading Weekend. There was also bike riding, but I write enough about that already, so today I'm going to focus on tomatoes.

Lina was given the task of foraging for 100 lbs of tomatoes before the Vancouver canning (and biking) enthusiasts arrived. The farmer's market is winding down at this time of year, but Lina found half of what we needed there - and the other half was not far away. It turns out living in a place surrounded by farms is useful when you need to buy vegetables. Amazing. Are tomatoes vegetables? I digress. 

The farm with the tomatoes was around the corner, so Lina went and woke up the farmer. There were more tomatoes but some of them were still on the plants, so Lina and the farmer in pajamas went picking. With the necessary tomatoes secured, we were ready for action.

Incidentally, "Lina and the Farmer in Pajamas" is the title of my new children's novel which will be available in time for Christmas and would make a perfect gift for your loved ones.

Not really.

Canning things is a bit mystical to me, but I do have a slightly better understanding of it now. I even made a photo-essay of some of it. We haven't tasted the evidence yet, but they do look pretty.

100 lbs of blanched and peeled tomatoes, in a big bin.

Lemon juice, then tomatoes go in the sterilized jars.

Topping-up the jars with water and measuring the headspace (man).

Squeezing out the bubbles and squishing down escaping tomatoes.

Lids on, and into the canning contraption for 40 minutes.

And another thing... the "landscaping" is coming along quite well.