The September holidays had just begun, and we did not know what activities were planned for the break. Grandma Sophia and Grandpa Sam had asked us to go stay for the weekend. They always did fun and interesting things so Verity and I loved to go and stay. We would always pack a bag of an assortment of clothes and our wellingtons too. The weekend stay would turn out to be something we had never experienced before.

When we arrived at the farm late Friday evening, Grandma Sophia and Grandpa Sam told us we were going to be busy for the weekend. It seemed like Nonna Nina and Nonno Nico, who live on a nearby farm, had asked for our help. Grandma Sophia made us her tasty, scrambled eggs on toast before we would rest in the evening and go to bed. Grandpa Sam told us we would need to get up early in the morning and therefore we needed to get a good night’s sleep.

We woke early and quickly had breakfast with Grandma Sophia and Grandpa Sam. They told us to dress comfortably and put on some very old clothes. Once dressed, we all went outside and got on to Grandpa Sam’s tractor. We took the tractor to Nonna Nina and Nonno Nico’s farm. When we were on the narrow country lane, we could see tractors in front of us and ones that came up behind us. “Looks like they have invited the whole neighbourhood!” Grandpa Sam said.

When we arrived at Nonno Nico’s farm, everyone gathered in their courtyard. Everyone was chatting, laughing, smiling, shaking hands and saying hello. It was like a party atmosphere. Nonno Nico thanked everyone for turning up. He explained what needed to be done and divided the people into groups. Verity and I decided to go with Grandpa Sam.

Grandpa Sam returned to his tractor and travelled down narrow pathways to reach the back of the fields. When we got out of the tractor, we could see tomato plants for what seemed like forever. Everyone in this group started to collect tomatoes and placed them in trailers attached to the tractors. Once a trailer was full, it was taken back to the house for the next stage. Everyone cheered as the trailers pulled away. People felt proud that so many tomatoes had been collected.

When we returned to the house, the tomatoes were unloaded. Large fires had been set up and people stood near water trays. The tomatoes were first washed and then placed in large containers over the fires to cook. Grandma Sophia helped with this process. We stayed with her to wash the tomatoes but did not go near the fires as we did not want to get burnt.

At about midday, a farm bell rang. Everyone put down tools and stopped working. Everyone moved into a courtyard where there were large trestle tables and chairs. We all sat down and Nonna Nina and her family all brought out food and drink. Platters of olives, salami, boiled eggs, bread, marinated vegetables and lots of different cheeses. Verity and I had never seen some of the foods before and wanted to try everything. Nonno Nico served his homemade wine and lemonade. The lemonade was sweet and cold. Those who drank the wine all seemed to cough and splutter initially but then all wanted to drink more. We all had a feast. Nonno Nico took photos of everyone so we could try to capture and remember the experience.

In the afternoon, everyone returned to work. This time Grandma Sophia was moved from tomato washing to milling. She placed the tomatoes in a small machine, and it crushed the tomatoes. The skin and seeds separated from the pulp and created a liquid. The mixture was then poured into bottles. A bay leaf was added; the bottles were sealed and then wrapped in newspaper. The bottles were then placed in another container with water and heated to cook the tomatoes again. Once the bottles had been heated, they were left to cool and then stored. It was a very long process and lots to do to make the sauce. Verity and I found it easy to put the bay leaf in the bottles, so that became our afternoon job.