Getting Back to Work

(CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE AND ENJOY)

Well after a few weeks keeping my hands clean, it felt great to get back into the swing of things.  The city dirt never feels the same.  No matter what I tried, I couldn't find anything to...

replace that farm-fresh dirt feeling.  I got so antsy, I even started tilling those small patches of earth outside of random apartment buildings, you know the ones that hold all the beautiful garbage piles.  It's all fun and games until an 85 year old woman in a moo moo comes running out yelling at you to stop stealing her garbage.

A lot of people have been asking, is there anything growing this time of year?  Well the answer is... a whole bunch of stuff when your lucky enough to help out in a beautiful, flourishing 1/2 acre greenhouse and what better way to discuss an early winter crop lineup than displaying what's being sold at the monthly winter farm market up at Stone Barns.  The Captain's 36 inch bed widths make navigating these rows quick and easy.  There's just enough room to extend your arm, while ensuring my big feet stay on the paths and don't trample any valuable veggies.

The greenhouse is the perfect growing environment for these various mustard greens, lettuces and herbs that go into the unique salad mix below.

A little wash and hand spin to dry in these funky looking baskets and they're all set for bagging.

Claytonia, Red Cardinal Spinach and the "hard-to-not-photograph-everytime" Swiss Chard are all hearty winter veggies that thrive with the recent drop of temperature.

Claytonia

Red Cardinal Spinach

Swiss Chard

But let's not forget those field veggies like the celery root, which, when harvested, is durable enough to last in cold storage throughout the winter.

And my new favorite addiction, winter squash.  The Delicata (Long yellow squash), Sugar Dumpling (rounded top) and Sweet Dumpling (curved-in top) are still holding up very well after all these months, but after this weekend's market frenzy, only a few are left.

Last but certainly not least, the ever elusive parsnips.  Remember, these delicious winter root vegetables protect themselves from the harsh cold weather by converting starches to sugars.  The sugary side effect is a perfect reason to enjoy some warm parsnip soup.  It's no easy task pulling these albino carrot-looking taproots from the frosty ground.  Last year, we learned the hard way, just how tough it can be to pull even the smallest parsnip.

But nothing compared to Matt's baby.  In what seemed like a woman in labor, Matt harvested this infamous 4 1/2 pounder form the relentless frozen ground.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to bring my camera into that crazy mud pit, but we did salvage this one picture.  I swear this thing fed like 9 families last winter.

Bagged and loaded up to the market, in just a few short hours this Kubota full of delicious winter edibles was off and gone forever.