More winter goodness

After a bit of standing around, scratching out heads, and looking at what we have left in the fields we decided to harvest a little heavier today. Our thought was that the way the voles and deer have been going for it lately, the vegetables are safer in your fridge, and really they'll probably last at least as long there. The share has brussels, maybe the last of them, although there are some small ones out there that could size up, and we'll probably get some raab in the late winter. We pulled the very last of the leeks out of the field. We stripped a few more leaves off the kale today, those should keep going for while. We also pulled out the last of the salsify roots. Some of the salsify has a bit of greens, which does make a nice salad addition.

I've given most of this info before, but if you're wondering about using the less usual vegetables, like salsify and brussels, here are a few tips. The salsify is very similar to scorzonera. Peel it, slice it and fry it, or chunk it and boil it. Either way it's a nice addition to greens or other roots. I especially like it with sauteed kale.

The brussels need a bit of peeling as well, there are some not so nice wrapper leaves on the outside, but the insides should be good. I like to half them, sautee them for a few minutes in olive oil and then add a bit of balsamic and water to the pan, cover it and let them steam for a few more minutes until most of the liquid is gone and they're dark green but still crispy. They're also excellent shredded with a similar treatment.

Kale and leeks, I assume those don't need much explanation at this point - good in everything, pretty much.

I"m not sure when the next harvest will be. We'll take a look in two weeks, but we might have to wait for some more late winter growth before we pull anything else out of the field. We'll let you all know and keep you up to date on the first seedings of the year that will be happening in a couple of weeks as well.