Turnips

One of my favorite things about having a farm is trying out new varieties of veggies that I have never grown before. I buy seeds of new veggies every spring, but my favorite way to try out new veggies is from the seeds people give me. This year friends gave me carrot and pepper seeds that did well, but my favorite of the year was the turnip seeds my friend Jackie gave me.

I planted the turnip seeds in late summer because they are a cool weather crop. It sends up green shoots in a week or two and the turnip bulb you are familiar with grows underground. Turnips like loose soil so the root can form and a good amount of compost. I use organic fertilizer on them about once a month. In 10-12 weeks, the turnips are ready to be harvested.

I'm not sure what variety of turnip my friend Jackie gave me, but these are the sweetest, most tender turnips I have ever eaten. Karen roasted them with some of our Fingerling potatoes and they were a real treat. Later, I'm going to steam them and puree them with butter for another turnip side dish.

Planting Garlic

Garlic, getting ready to go in the ground

Garlic cloves planted in rows

Turnips

Onions

I should have planted garlic for next year last month. But, I have so much clean up to do and then we were on vacation for a week. If you're interested, check out my blog about the trip to Croatia and Slovenia with a side trip to London.

Today, I finally had a chance to plant the garlic. Luckily, the weather has been mild, so we can still plant it. Last year I planted a variety called Russian Garlic. While the flavor is pretty good, the bulbs were very small so I'm planting a purple garlic this time which should have larger, more flavorful cloves.

Normally, I don't sell garlic at the farmers' market, because we just grow enough for us. But, we use a lot of garlic at our house, so we plant enough to get 100 bulbs in the fall. Not to mention all the garlic scapes we get in June!

With the warm weather, there is still time for you to plant garlic for next year. Use a good garlic you like from the grocery story (it's much less expensive than what you get from the seed stores online, just make sure you're buying organic). Till the soil (garlic bulbs grow underground so the soil needs to be loose and fluffy). Plant the garlic cloves pointy end up about 6 inches apart. So, in an 8'x4' bed, you can get 64 bulbs! Use organic compost as fertilizer and mulch with straw. Remember to cut off the scapes in June (use them for garlic scape pesto) or else you will get small bulbs.

While outside, I also noticed a few stray onions that I picked for French Onion Soup and some turnips as well. My friend Jackie and her husband gave me the turnip seeds, so this is the first time I've grown them. I'm looking forward to steaming the greens and adding to my potatoes. Karen's mom made roasted turnips for Thanksgiving, so I'm going to try that recipe as well.

Croatia and Slovenia

Karen and I just returned from a trip to Croatia and Slovenia with a side trip to London. I created a blog for this trip here.

Of course I talk about agriculture issues that I find of interest like sustainable practices and local economies selling products to the community, but I also talk about the history of this volatile region, the interesting people we met, wonderful meals we enjoyed and our course, wine. There's lots of pictures including a couple of Gigi, the retired truffle hunting pig. I hope you enjoy the blog and drop me an email or post a comment with your thoughts. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

The Onion lampoons foodies

First off, this video has some language that some people might find offensive, so consider yourself warned. But, I find it very, very funny. After all, you have to be willing to laugh at yourself. Here's the link to the video.

Snow!

Turnips

Peppers
Carrots

Last year we returned from a week of 70 degree temperatures in Italy to snow the first week of November. That early snow storm was a foreshadowing of a very snowy winter. Yesterday, a Nor'easter roared up the east coast and dropped two feet of snow in Northern Massachusetts. We had dinner at our friend's house in Foxborough and driving home late last night was an adventure of wind, ice and driving snow. But, in the boondocks of Southern Rhode Island, we got mostly rain and a couple inches of snow. By the afternoon, the sun had melted most of the snow and the storm is mostly forgotten. I just hope we're not in for another brutal winter.

The good news is that there are crops that like the cold weather and even the snow. Turnips love cold nights and the reason we eat them in the fall and especially at Thanksgiving is because they do so well in the cold and will be ready to harvest in November. Carrots, Beets and Radishes like the cool weather, too. In fact, I'm looking forward to a bountiful November harvest of Carrots. Arugula is another good cold weather crop. Today, we took some Arugula and had it on pizza. Arugula won't get its distinctive peppery flavor until temps drop into the 30s at night.

Coyotes

Our Beets and Carrots have been ravaged this fall. Not the root, just the tops. It looks like someone went down the row with a weed whacker. At first I thought it might be rabbits, but we haven't seen rabbits in several weeks at the farm (Coyotes must have got them). Then, I thought it might be deer because I saw a few tracks near the planting beds. I couldn't really make out the type of tracks since the rain had distorted the shapes of the tracks. But, we haven't seen any deer at the farm recently.

We have, however, seen coyotes lately at the farm. Even though they are normally nocturnal animals, I have seen them during the morning and evening. Today, Karen saw two coyotes in the garden and took the pictures you see above. They were having a grand old time eating the tops of beets. Karen scared them off, but now I have to find a way to organically get rid of them without hurting them. The only real method I have seen online is by using wolf urine, since wolves are natural predators of coyotes. We'll see how it goes, but I'm open to ideas if you want to drop me an email.

Sage

Yesterday I cut some Sage for the Richmond Farmers' Market and our own kitchen at One Love Farm. When we sell Sage, people always ask what to do with it. There are tons of uses for Sage, some culinary, some fragrant and some ceremonial.

Sage goes very well with carrots, so we like to cook Carrots in butter and Sage. Just blanch the Carrots in boiling salt water for a minute or two until they are al dente. Then, put them in a saute pan with butter until they are just starting to caramelize. Add Sage (either whole leaves or chopped) and let the leaves wilt. Serve hot. You can also do the same recipe, but add Scallions and toss over hot bow tie pasta. Serve with Parmesan Cheese and hot pepper flakes or Chili Powder

I also like to burn dried Sage as a sort of incense. I've posted about this before. Native Peoples have used Sage for cleansing ceremonies. Yesterday, I gave some Sage to my friend Allen, a world famous artist. He is getting ready to open his shop selling his handmade Native American Wampum, created in the traditional style. Allen told me he will use the Sage in the traditional way, to cleanse a new space of negative energy.