Author: Catherine

A time to dig

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We had some snow, some rain, some pretty cold weather. Then this weekend it warmed up and was fairly sunny. A good time to get some more potatoes and parsnips out of the garden. The ground was not frozen and workable under the hay mulch. Could have used a little more mulch.

18 pounds of parsnips

Probably fewer pounds of potatoes, maybe 10? I didn’t weigh them.

We are not using the root cellarbox this year. It failed to keep out water last winter. We’re leaving parsnips and potatoes in the ground under mulch for digging as needed. The carrots are in the refrigerator, where they are taking up a lot of space.

Apple leek sweet potato bake

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Time to start using food from the freezer!

I made up this WFPB recipe based on this:

Sweet Potato, Apple and Leek Casserole

Put in a casserole dish:

  • Half a bag of frozen leeks
  • Bag of frozen apples

Place in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to thaw.

Peel about 4 sweet potatoes and it into slices. Add to casserole dish, along with 1 cup of frozen broth. Add spices and salt. I used turmeric and cumin. Stir to mix. Bake for about 20 minutes to soften.

Stir again and add one cup bulgur wheat and two cups of water. Bake until bulgur is soft and liquid is absorbed.

Freezer inventory 2018

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Not very scientific, but an attempt to keep track.

Apples, 6 bags slices

Blueberries, 2 large bags, 2 small bags

Broccoli, 2 small bags, 1 larger bag florets

Fennel, 2 bags chopped, 2 bags stalks, 1 bag fronds

Garlic scapes, 2 bags

Green beans, 4 bags

Green peppers, 2 bags strips, 2 bags diced

Leeks, 5 bags

Mushroom broth, 2 bags

Pumpkin, 5 bags purée

Salsa, 2 large bags

Scallions, 2 bags bulbs, 2 bags green tops

Squash, 3 bags puréed winter squash, 3 bags delicata rings, 2 bags buttercup segments

Tomatoes, 4 bags pulp/purée

cilantro – coriander

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Low-tech method of cleaning coriander seeds. I got a small jar of fairly clean seeds. These have been stored on the plants in a pillow case outdoors to dry, harvested some time earlier in the summer.

I’ve never been able to grow as much cilantro as I want to eat, but I keep trying. There’s some baby cilantro out in the garden right now, under protection, in a probably vain hope that it will make it through the winter and take off in spring. It’s not known as a northern crop.

Now coriander is another story. I don’t know what to do with it in the kitchen, so I just save it year after year to replant in next year’s garden. This batch was quite dirty and really impossible to pick through. Sam got the idea that the seeds would roll and we hit on this solution.

last harvest, HCG

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Having waited almost too long, yesterday was the last harvest at the community garden.

The snow was not so much the issue, as the long cold spell looming in the forecast.

We brought in the remaining celeriac, kale, and leeks, as well as a handful of adorable baby carrots and one hapless baby beet.

farewell seedlings

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We covered up the seedlings in the garden in anticipation of cold temps over the next few nights. This is an experimental bed. I don’t think they’ll all make it, maybe none of them will. Cilantro, lacinato kale, red lettuce, spinach. They are under a layer of plastic, a layer of agribon, and a few inches of hay mulch.