WONKY VEG

T

Turnips and carrots oh my

Living sustainably off the land. As I stepped onto the Croft I could see that this world that surrounds me lives in balance with the land. The three acre garden is magnificent. It is comprised of a couple of poly tunnels for those tender veggies (tomatoes and cucumbers). The other holds the strawberries that need a little help with the heat. They are small but so delicious. There are also some growing out in the beds but they seem to be for the voles. We can share, it’s okay.

I could list all that is being grown but I won’t I will introduce you to them when we harvest because that is where the fun begins.

What do you do with a big basket of turnips. These are one vegetable I have not been overly fond of. There are two types and without getting into the proper names they are white and yellow.

The carrots and some potatoes were harvested at the the same time. The soil here seems to produce wonderful carrots. I am learning so much everyday. I was told that if there is green at the top of the carrots that this is where the sun reached the top, the underground soil allows them to remain green.

So what to do with all of this. Well we communally made turnip and carrot soup. The recipe didn’t call for many spices and usually I do add a lot. I now understand how lovely it is to taste just the taste of the vegetable. Next we made Curried Turnip Stew and lastly still having more turnip left, and we wouldn’t want to waste it. We are in the midst of making turnip chips. I will let you know how they turn out. Oh I almost forgot dessert, we made carrot cake, well it actually turned out as a carrot bar. It was deemed a failure but perhaps mistakes aren’t mistakes at all but a surprise.

You can well imagine how much veggie waste was left, well not waste at all. It goes to the compost heap, or to the chickens, or to the sheep but never just wasted.

So not sure what tomorrow will bring but I am sure it will be another culinary adventure.