Our Own Sauce

One evening, not long ago, Big O was helping cook supper when he looked at the label on a jar of spaghetti sauce (for GF spaghetti, of course. . .) and declared to me that if we had the items pictured on that label, that we could make our own sauce. I told him that we definitely could and that I hoped we would be able to make our own sauce from the tomatoes, garlic, basil, and onions that are growing in our own back yard. (Mushrooms - yeah, I'm gonna leave those to the experts and buy them at the store!)

He's been avidly watching the progress of our garden. He and Little O have enjoyed some sweet peas right off the vine lately. A small handful of pea pods a day for a while. They've also sampled the basil on numerous occasions, and harvested a few cucumbers and a couple of daikon radishes. (They weren't too keen on the daikon radish - I'll be curious to see what these radishes taste like after fermenting for a while.)

Not long ago, tomatoes began to appear on our tomato plants, small and green at first. Some of the pear tomatoes began to ripen, turning yellow and bursting with juicy flavor. The mariglobe and jubilee tomatoes were still green, but getting larger every day. Big O saw these bigger, rounder green tomatoes begin to take on a little bit of and orangy-red hue and got very excited. He exclaimed that soon we'd be able to make our own sauce!

Last night, I was watering the garden after the Os had gone to sleep and I picked our first three marglobe heirloom tomatoes. I should've waited to let the boys pick them, but I just couldn't wait! They looked so inviting and delicious! There are dozens (if not hundreds?) more plump tomatoes in various shades of green, yellow, and reddish-orangish-pink, so the boys will have plenty to pick, too.

Though the smaller tomato did not last long, I've managed to hold back from devouring the other two just yet. Another day or two on the vine might have been in order (I always get overly-eager with the first few ripe tomatoes of the season!), so they'll be on the window sill for a short spell.

We've still got plenty of fresh basil growing. As for the garlic and onion. . . I am pretty sure we planted these way too late in the spring - and I'm not sure how productive these will turn out to be. But maybe I can get some organic, local (as in, within Altadena!) garlic and onion by swapping some of our home grown goods within our neighborhood produce exchange group.

Of course, unlike what Big O saw on the label of the jar of sauce, we'll need a few more than two tomatoes. My prediction is that we'll be making our homemade sauce for gluten-free spaghetti by month's end . . . if we can manage to not gobble up all the tomatoes straight from the vine!