Freezeout

Root Down

We harvested a bucketful of carrots on Wednesday, our fingers aching with every dip into the cold, damp soil. They are extremely short, so I’d spy a bit juicy top sticking out of the ground, only to reach over and pull up a two-inch-long root. But man, was it worth it. Even after months in the ground, almost every carrot is crisp and sweet—hardly any have gone bitter. We’ve already given about a third of them away, so what do we do with the rest?

I made applesauce today with some of the apples we have left from our trip to Syracuse. Sweetened with some maple syrup and spiced with cinnamon and a puff of cardamom (Mark’s genius suggestion), it was mighty tasty. Ate it for dessert with TJ’s gingerbread boxed mix, which, by the way, is almost as good as my mom’s from scratch. What is their secret? Usually boxed mixes taste like, well, the box. And chemicals.

We’ve been really active at Genesis Farm these past couple of months. We are sorely remiss in not writing about our experiences there, especially my fascinating food politics course. More to come soon.

Saving Seeds

Mark attended a workshop over three Saturday mornings in September to learn from the pros how to harvest, process, and save seeds. He was so enthusiastic about it that he convinced me to attend the last session. You'd think that you can just take the seeds out of whatever fruit or vegetable you have, dry it out, and then plant it in the ground later on, but some seeds have adapted to protect themselves in such a way that they actually need some help. Tomato seeds, for example, are coated in a kind of jelly--you've seen it--that needs to ferment in order to be viable. The mold eats the protective outer layer, and the seed can't germinate without it.

Processing some seeds, such as shelling peas, feels like such a profoundly useful activity that I could do it all day. We learned winnowing (I've always wondered what that was) with leek seeds, which entails rubbing handfuls of seed between your palms to separate the chaff from the seed itself, and then blowing the chaff away by pouring everything from one vessel to another in front of a fan. After you sift the mixture, all you're left with are the little black seeds, which in this case will be sent to a small, local seed company.

I love this kind of work because it's methodical, almost meditative, but it can also be social. All of us sat on the floor of the barn on a mild, damp day, working and chatting, and several hours passed before we knew it. There's even talk of starting a collective seed bank using our own gardens and seeds.

And speaking of seeds, we just got our garlic in the mail. It goes in the ground this week, becoming our official first planting for 2009. And the cycle begins again.

Denouement

The tomato plants have gone sparse and yellow, with a few Amish Paste and Nyagous hanging on for dear life, and a few green ones desperately trying to ripen before the first frost. That might be sooner than expected--last night it was 47 degrees. The few cherry tomatoes we missed are splitting and rotting on the vine. Mark strongly believes that our tomatoes peaked so early because of the red mulch, and he very well may be correct.

The chard is still going strong, and we have a few scallions left in the ground, but the real surprise has been the carrots, which are so tender and sweet, unlike any I've ever brought home from the store. We just pull them out of the ground as we need them. So far the only way we've eaten them is to clean them and snack on them raw and unadulterated (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?) because they're so delicious.

We picked our lonely delicata squash, which got to be about the size of a grapefruit, but we haven't eaten it yet. Not sure if the two tiny melons will ever mature, but we're waiting it out a little longer. The fingerling potatoes produced a couple of pounds, but it wasn't the bountiful harvest we'd hoped for.

This time of year is so sad, with everything winding down. So why do I love it so?

Broccoli v2.0

Mark started some broccoli and lettuce in the basement to see if we can get a fall crop. This time we planted the broccoli in one of the boxes close to the house and moved in some marigolds next door to try to ward off those hungry creatures.

Bounty

18 pounds of tomatoes: left and center, from our garden; right, from the CSA

Roasted Summer Vegetable Salad

I feel so smug when I come up with a recipe that’s nutritious, like I’ve gotten away with something. This warm salad could be a complete meal in itself, although I served it alongside homemade pizza. It’s versatile, too; you could easily make it with fall vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, butternut squash, and potatoes. Roasted garlic would be terrific. Next time I might finish it off with some shavings of pecorino romano.

Roasted Summer Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper
1 medium eggplant
1 medium pattypan squash or zucchini
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper

1 cup cannellini beans (canned is fine)
2 cups baby spinach leaves, raw
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Preparation
Heat oven to 450°F. While you wait, roughly chop the pepper, eggplant, and summer squash into about 1½-inch chunks. Spread vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet, then sprinkle with garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil over and toss until vegetables are evenly coated. Roast for 15-20 minutes, mixing once halfway through cooking time. Remove vegetables from oven when they’ve started to caramelize but are still firm.

Allow vegetables to cool for about 10 minutes, then add to a bowl with the cannellini beans and spinach. Chop the thyme finely, sprinkle that over, and follow with the sherry vinegar. You’ll probably need another little drizzle of olive oil. Taste to see if any extra salt or pepper is necessary, and enjoy.

Serves 4.