Endless Summer

A summer morning visit to the market plunges one into a sea of grandmothers selling fruits and vegetables brought from their cottages, gardens, and villages. Each week sees the arrival of one variety and the departure of another; everything is extremely seasonal as all of it is grown within 100 kilometers of the city. The only consistent factor is the double-take prices. I bought organic tomatoes for about 20 cents per kilo, cucumbers for 15, cherries for about $1 per kilo. The downside of this frenzy is that come winter, the prices jump almost fifteen-fold. So, I, like a good Ukrainian, bought kilo upon kilo of vegetables this summer and heated up my apartment with afternoons of canning. Now in January I can enjoy the bounty of the Ukrainian summer. Here’s a sampling of some of the prettiest jars in my closet.

From left, back row: salsa, peeled and seeded tomatoes, salted tomatoes, giardiniera; front row: melon jam, roasted bell peppers, mosarda, pear-lemon-ginger jam, pickled eggplant.