One of the many benefits of living in a rural area is your ability to shop the local farms. Everything from eggs to dairy, meats and poultry to fresh fruits and vegetables can simply be a matter of going next door to visit one of your neighbors. Meet K. and M. They’ve been running their parents farm (as well as hold down two jobs) since the day they got married several years back. Just like their parents ran their own parents farm (the farm has been passed down from generation to generation) that’s what K. and M. have been up to. Hundreds of acres, for as far as the eyes can see has been a part of their family farming tradition.

One way to stay trim and buff is to run a family farm. She may not look it but K. is mom to three kids, ages 7 to 3.

I needed a few things from their farm as my own veggie garden is blooming a bit slow. Unbeknownst to me is that we here in America can grow San Marzano tomatoes! I thought they could only be grown in Italy! I bought seeds for my next year’s garden, but in the mean time, I ordered a half bushel from K. and hubby and I are going to start canning and freezing our own marinara sauce!

This is just some of the San Marzano tomatoes. I have more on the windowsill.

Hubby and I spent most of the afternoon cooking up some eggplant, zucchini; preparing a lunch of fresh tomato salad with K.’s red onions, basil and a side of mozzarella. The San Marzano tomatoes had to be washed and dried. We’ll be skinning them later on today and making as much marinara sauce as we can. I saved a bunch of plastic containers and rather than can them, I’ll be freezing them. Much easier and so much less work! We’ll have enough sauce to last throughout the winter, plus give away some as gifts.

The whole kit and kaboodle of farm fresh veggies cost us $15. Score!