Winter Fuel Allowance

The water spluttered explosively back on late in the evening and was still expectorating in the morning, such that as I diluted the milk for the caffe latte a great burst emptied the saucepan of milk. But it is back for now. The August bank holiday - Ferragosto - was last week and the school return looms so it feels v quiet.

Up early we were soon stripping and scrubbing (our tomato harvest). By 10:30 we’d pip-skinned the lot and had 19 jars of passata (9.5 litres) piping hot on the oak table.

Given the oven was hot from sterilising the preserving jars I put a chicken in. Which we ate with a locally produced Syrah wine - a rarity for italy - in the fast diminishing shade of the kiwi arbor, which sounds like a two-day bristle rub on super dry cardboard when the faltering breeze deigned to soffiare.


The passata really is our Winter Fuel Allowance. With homegrown beans or squash or pasta it brightens up the dreary days no end. Hopefully the tomatoes will produce another crop and we might get up to 20 litres. Currently the auxiliary fridge is absolutely bare.

They had boxes of big plum tomatoes trucked up from way distant Puglia in the co-op yesterday at 80 cents a kilo but there’s nothing like homegrown produce which has not been sprayed for anything.