DeLancey's Go Tomato Picking

We are CSA members at Live Earth Farm, which means that every week we get a box full of wonderful organic seasonal produce (which Lance picks up in Redwood City on his way home from work on Thursdays).  CSA, for the uninitiated, stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  That means that we pay for a share of the farms bounty, which supports the daily function of a local, organic farm.  I like supporting local food rather than getting produce from wherever the grocery store trucks it in from (which is where I would otherwise get food since I am HORRIBLE at growing things).  I've taken great pride in planning our meals every week to feature the vegetables front and center.  We've eaten less meat as a result, which has been a lot more healthy for all of us.  If you're interested in what I've been cooking from our share, check out our DeLancey Family Pollan Project blog.  Many of the recipes come from the farm's recipe database.  One of the perks of being CSA members (other than the weekly bounty of fruits and vegetables, and bi-weekly pastured organic eggs) is attending farm events like the Tomato U-pick (where the first 5 pounds of delicious dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes was free, $1.50/lb. thereafter).

So, on a beautiful Saturday morning we packed up the munchkins in their sun hats and drove to Watsonville (which is nearly 2 hours away).

Unlike our fruit picking experience, the farm asks that you bring your own tomato carrying devices, so we brought the boys their sand pails and Lance and I just used our reusable grocery bags.  The boys happily filled their buckets with beautiful ripe tomatoes.  RJ did so relatively independently, whereas Logan picked the ones I pointed to.

After picking for a little while we had a picnic lunch (including a few of our fresh vine ripened tomatoes) under a tree near the adjacent raspberry bushes, where RJ picked and mostly ate a basket full (right off the vines!).  Logan seemed to enjoy running away from our picnic spot most of all.




I helped RJ pick a few more so that there were some raspberries to take home, and as you can see here, he was fiercely hoarding them the entire walk to the car, where we had to take them away because he ate so much fruit we were worried about the after effects.

When all was said and done, we had 22lbs. of tomatoes (pictured here once we got home).

Live Earth Farm is in Watsonville, which is near Santa Cruz, and we weren't about to just drive home, so instead we took the boys to Bonny Doon beach, which just happens to be a clothing-optional beach.  It was beautiful (the beach, not the naked people), but cold and windy (wind + sand = not so much fun), so we didn't stay long, but it was nice to see the ocean.

Then we were off to dinner in downtown Santa Cruz (we went to Acapulco for Mexican Food).  Afterward, we stumbled upon the Neary Lagoon Wildlife Refuge while looking for a playground for the boys to run off some steam before driving home.  This was perfect.  The boys ran along the boardwalk and enjoyed the swaying floating pontoon bridges across the lagoon while they talked to the ducks and the duckling, and watched the huge fish just below the surface.  And near the end of the loop there was a playground by the public restroom, which was pretty much everything we needed!

The next day, I made my foray into the wonderful world of canning with my shiny new pressure canner!   I also discovered that peeling tomatoes, even with the score and blanch method, is a pain in the ass.  But in the end, it was worth it!











I canned spaghetti sauce,









salsa,

and plain stewed tomatoes.

For more pictures of tomato picking and other Santa Cruz adventures click here.