2015 Jovial Tomato Season

I have always been fascinated by the tomato season. Seeds are planted early, then the small plants are transplanted to the fields in late spring. We wait until August for the tomatoes to ripen, watching the weather, thankful for each beautiful day while worrying every time it rains. Did you know it takes 2 pounds of fresh tomatoes to make one jar of jovial tomatoes? In fact, we need a few hundred acres for growing, which includes enough space for our 5-year rotation cycle, which is one of the advantages of the organic farming system and why organic tomatoes taste better. Each farm that supplies us with tomatoes must be located close to the canning facility because ripe tomatoes cannot travel long distances. If we were to buy tomatoes from further away, we would have to harvest the fruit before it was fully ripened and our tomatoes would not be as sweet and delicious. Normally, tomatoes are transported by the truckload, but we pack our tomatoes in crates because we know small scale production is always better. That’s why there is no need to use corrective additives. Our tomatoes are just tomatoes, with no citric acid, ascorbic acid, calcium chloride or even salt. We believe these details make all the difference.

Although the tomato originated in America, we can all be thankful that Spanish conquistadors and Christopher Columbus brought seeds back to Europe 500 years ago. Tomatoes seem to grow so well in Italy and Italians cherish their pomodoro. They are so talented at packing tomatoes and packing in glass is a specialty that we are very proud of. Glass is pure, it does not effect the flavor of the product inside and it does not contain linings with BPA or other plastics. On Saturday morning, the factory smelled like a huge and delicious pizzeria, the smell was not acidic, but sweet and intensely rich.

You may or may not know that my husband, Rodolfo, and I live in Italy during the school year and we manage all of jovial’s manufacturing. That includes contracting with farmers, following the growing season, developing new products, and monitoring production and quality control. We usually travel separately, but since it was Saturday, the children slept at my mother-in-laws the night before we set out on yesterday’s 4-hour drive to the tomato factory. Tomatoes are made 24/7 now and in a few weeks, we will be finished for the year. Organic tomatoes ripen slower than conventional tomatoes, so the production runs into September, and if it starts raining, there is always the risk that we will not be able to finish. I love this part of my job. It’s always exciting to see the process, to realize how many hands are involved, and it’s also a relief to see the year’s supply finally stacked up to the ceiling of the warehouse, each jar waiting for its final journey to your kitchen.

Our day at the tomato factory always ends with tasting. I like to think of Rodolfo as a sommelier of tomatoes. He tweaks a few things each year to improve quality. This year, a new blade was installed that dices the tomatoes a bit larger and we’re thrilled with this improvement. Next week, Rodolfo will return to oversee the whole peeled production. When the productions is complete, we’re going to run a test batch of my own tomato sauce recipe, made with fresh tomatoes. Maybe, hopefully, a new jovial product will be born!

It’s a busy time of the year for us. Next week, I’ll be traveling to check up on our rice crop, which will be harvested in early October. Soon after, the olive harvest will get underway and run through January. We’ll also be planting the new einkorn crop in early November. I’ll be sure to bring my camera along and share more pictures with you.

You may not think about all of the special people on this end of the supply chain that are involved in growing and making your product, but we can assure you, they are all really grateful for your support!

If you’d like to see and read more about our tomato seasons, look back at our 2014 and 2012 harvests.