End of the Season, End of the Tomatoes

When the tomatoes first started to ripen back in July, along with the huzzahs and cheers of CSA members, we had several odes to those delicious fruits, and it seems only fitting that, as we see the last of them, there should be some sort of Tomato Elegy.

The gold leaves tell the tale of parting heat,
Those scarlet orbs now vanished from the vines.
Our farmers homeward turn their weary feet,
And leave the world to e’er less sunshine.

Okay, that’s probably enough (apologies to Thomas Gray). But it is nearly the end of the Enright CSA season, so muse we must on the coming winter as well as on the bounty of great food we had all summer long.

I was thinking about it the other day, and I decided my favorite part of growing season at the CSA is not having to decide what to eat. That is, I still decide what to prepare from day to day, but from week to week, our eating habits now follow the sun, with root vegetables and greens in the spring, on to those lovely tomatoes as well as peppers, corn, eggplant, and okra in the heat of July, and then winding down again to turnips and greens and squash in the fall. Plus of course those weekly cucumbers. Who knew they were a three-season vegetable.

But on the whole it’s an elegant progression, and I like dining as the seasons intend. Tonight we had the end of the potatoes, roasted with a little olive oil and salt, and they tasted like fall. We also ate three of those tomatoes pictured above, so now there are only two left. It’s kind of amazing, and a tribute to our farmers, that we still have ripe, delicious tomatoes midway through October, so these last few are particularly tasty.

To take liberties with yet another poet, où sont les tomates d'antan? The tomates, alas, are pretty much gone for this season, so I will just enjoy what the cool weather brings. And I’ll miss all this great food when the season ends.