Claytonia Perfoliata

Claytonia, aka ‘Miners Lettuce’ is related to common and cultivated purslane; a weed to some, a salad and source of tons of vitamin C to others!  ’Miners lettuce’ got its name because it grew abundantly and was so often eaten by miners to prevent scurvy.  A plate-full (a large salad) can contain about 1/2 of your daily requirement for Vit. C!

When my son was in college he would come home and devour bags full of the green.  It really made me wonder how much time he was spending in a dark, nutrient-deprived environment.  I am relieved that now that those days are behind him, he’s living in CA, shopping at great farmers markets and he still craves Claytonia in the spring.

3 days later, my cabbage and carrot kraut is a bubbling, fermenting brew- I can't wait!

Wednesday night I finally started my first batch of fermenting cabbage (sauerkraut) with cabbage and carrots that I have been saving just for that purpose.  Thursday night’s snowstorm was perfect for a delicious veggie beef stew and today, with a cup of rosehip tea from our farm’s wild roses and our own lovely bees, I see that it is time to bring this blogging up to date!

One of the things that I love to do inside in the winter is (no, not housework) making broth and soup and revisiting summer through jars of canned goods and root cellar booty.  Broth-making is ongoing here.  Somehow we can always find a use for it, so what we don’t use right away we freeze.  The flavors of the broth vary with what is available; in fall the fragrant and deep green celery leaf enriches veggie broth, in winter, it’s more mellow relative, celeriac (celery root), gives a more subtle flavor.  Onions, red and yellow have distinct flavors.  Red onions, the kind used in salads, cook up very sweet and yellow are savory.  Deep orange carrots, grown in rich organic soil, are so sweet and fulfilling.  The Queen of all root storage vegetables, the rutabaga, is in many of the things that we cook.  We even love it raw; it is crisp and delicious!

An easy veggie broth can be made in small amounts by using the parts that you usually discard; the root ends and skins of onions, carrot ends and peels, leaves of celery and stems of greens …yum!  Just make sure to wash the veggies well before preparing and drop them into a pot of water with some seasoning and herbs.

In late fall, there are always a few hanger’s-on in the field that are destined to be added to a hot pot of water.  Celery is one of them.  So in early December, I declared a day of broth-making and retrieved the remaining celery and herbs and made a day of it.

Veggie broth; 5-6 med. onions, 3 or 4 carrots, 4 potatoes, celery leaf, parsley, 1.2 tsp whole peppercorns 2-3 bay leaf, 1 celery root, chunked, fresh thyme sprigs salt 4-5 allspice berries and 4 qts. water.

Fragrant chicken broth

Chicken broth; similar to veggie broth, but with a whole, lovingly raised, free-range stewing hen or the carcass of a roasted chicken.  You can cut the veggie quantity in half or more.  Sometimes I add a little sage to the broth.

One of my favorite broths is Southeast Asian Vegetable Stock.  The credit for this one goes to Moosewood.  We had lots of lemongrass to use up in the fall; a key ingredient in this broth.  I love to sip on a cup of this or add shelled Edamame to it for a little something extra.

3 cup and 1 cup containers of broth, ready for the freezer.

Southeast Asian Vegetable Stock

Thanks to everyone who has returned for another season and welcome to our new members.  If you haven’t sent in your membership yet for 2012, there are a few days left to get a great discount!

We are already looking forward to the next season and hope that you will join us!

Sign up now to get the “early bird” discount!

We also have lots of produce and eggs available all winter.  If you are looking for organic, local produce, I hope that you will check out the “Farm Market” page for details!

All the hoops are in place!

Now the end walls need to be built, the baseboards and mid-boards added and it is plastic-pulling time!  We’ll need some extra hands for that when the time comes-hopefully before the snow comes!  Hmm, a nice warm day would be nice for plastic pulling…they say that Thursday will  bring 60 degrees!  Anyone want to stop by for a nice, untraditional Thanksgiving meal of home-grown chickens and LOTS of veggies?  (And just a little outdoor activity-)

Wendell, Casey and Mike, and lots of hoops.

One...

Two...

and three and repeat...(several times)

We have one more vegetable pick-up for Storage and Extended Season shares on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 22 & 23.  There are still lots of great veggies to eat out there in the fields that don’t seem intimidated by the cold at all!  At some point though, they are destined to succumb to the power of Old Man Winter (?)  (Hmm, who sounds tougher; Old Man Winter, or Mother Nature?)

Tonight, we had a delicious stir-fry that was put together pretty quickly with onions, leeks, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, Daikon, green peppers, chili’s and carrots from the farm.  (I did add fresh ginger.)  I think that it is time again for me to sing a love song about leeks!  There is really nothing that compares to the mellow sweetness that they add to a meal.  The new winter leeks that we are harvesting now are every bit as sweet as the summer leeks.  Well maybe almost as sweet, but still…really great!  Add a super sweet carrot, fresh cauliflower and Daikon- mmm, mmm, mmm.

Now about Daikon!   I brought in a long radish (about 14″ long) and sliced it for the stir-fry, then Mike and I started snacking on the radishes and we both agreed that their storage space is well-deserved and that they will be a welcome treat over the winter.  Milder than a regular, small radish, easier to clean, larger, tender slices; what’s not to love?

(By the way, if you are feeling winter radish deprived, give us a call.  We have plenty for everyone!)

We would love some new friends!  (In addition to our beloved, irreplaceable old friends of course!)

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