WILD HARE WEEKLY WINTER #5/8
Today is a serious snow day at the farm. Okay, there have been snowball fights too, so not too serious. But for the past several hours, the temps have been in the twenties and flurries continue to fall in varying sizes. The guys have been shaking snow off of the greenhouses with some regularity, because if the snow gets too heavy, it could bend or break them. The snow that blankets the fields right now doesn’t appear to be going anywhere—it is breathtakingly gorgeous and a whole lot of fun to play in, but it presents some challenges for our day-to-day ops around here. Here’s what you need to know/what we’re keeping in mind at the start of week five
Celeriac & Carrots for a Monday of Sun →
WILD HARE WEEKLY WINTER #4/8
Mondays aren’t always easy, but I’m thankful that this one is a little extra gorgeous. Our family just flew home from Tucson, AZ where we had the fortune of soaking up a bit of sun, warm visits with longtime friends, and yes, enjoying some amazing regional food, succulent flora and wildly fun fauna. As I unpack our bags and watch giant boxes of seeds arrive at our door today, I’m teasing out the ways in which our short time away has inspired and energized us. And this is a darn good thing, because as I mentioned, this is Monday in late January. The roots won’t dig themselves, and the payroll taxes aren’t going to file themselves either!
Mark is out digging carrots and assessing some holdout Celery Root in the field. Celery Root, aka Celeriac, is one of those vegetables that you pretty much have to know a farmer or be a farmer to get your hands on in the United States. In Europe, it is a standby; however, here it is somewhat of an oddity if not a delicacy. In fact, some of you newcomers to the Winter CSA may be enjoying it for the first time ever this week. I can still remember bringing my first Celery Root home from work more than ten years ago. I wish you could have seen the look on Mark’s face when I handed him something that looked like a pineapple gone wrong and told him it was celery’s weird cousin. After we got over the appearance, we cooked it up and fell hard for Celeriac. And to this day, it has a special place in our fields, on our tables and in our hearts. Double Celery Soup is the fan favorite as far as Celeriac recipes go, but there are plenty of other ways to enjoy Celery Root. I sneak it into all kinds of dishes throughout the cold months--chopped into soups, mashed with or without potatoes, grated into slaws, shaved into salads--even breakfast hash or "zoodles" for stroganoff. What a treat to enjoy the clean and crisp aroma from a root!
Best,
Katie
Frost + Heat Make Winter Vegetables Sweet →
One of the things that I love about winter vegetables is their capacity to satisfy my sweet tooth…but with the added bonuses of fiber, vitamins and minerals thrown in there too. Some winter vegetables, like Brussels Sprouts and Parsnips, really come into their prime flavor-wise after they’ve experienced a frost. When temps drop low, the plants go into defense mode against the cold, sending all of their natural sugars into the roots and shoots. As a result, they become sweeter in flavor, and they roast up like a dream. So, if you do nothing else this week on the vegetable cooking front, heat the oven up and get your squashes, sprouts and roots roasting!
Best,
Katie