Sunday, October 15, 2006

root vegetables

I finally did it!!! I grew a vegetable as big as my head!!! Or nearly so.

It was a lovely afternoon, sunny with very little wind, high in the fifties, so I spent some time harvesting the last of the root vegetables and planting garlic. I don't know what I am going to do with this giant rutabaga, or if it will taste good at all, but I can always feed it to the chickens. Besides rutabagas, I had carrots, a few parsnips (which is better than I've ever done with them), and Kennebec and Katahdin potatoes, both fairly productive white fleshed, yellow skinned taters. Here's the harvest:

The soil in the garden beds was delightfully cool and moist and earthy smelling. I still have some lettuce, Swiss chard and cilantro that survived the fifteen degree low temp this morning, and my experimental "winter greens" bed with spinach, kale, and lettuce.

There's something so melancholy about putting the garden to rest for the winter, but at the same time planting for next year. This is my second year doing it here, so it's almost a ritual. I was moving about as if in prayer, the sun hanging low in the southern sky and casting long shadows with its still radiant warmth.

Now...anyone have any good rutabaga recipes? :)

By the way...the garden trowel, visible in the picture of the rutabaga, I made in my seventh grade obligatory metal shop class. Still useful, and I did end up getting an "A" in the class!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

Around here, we cook and mash the rutabaga and mix it with about 1/3-1/2 measure again of applesauce, liberal butter, a little salt.

R.Powers said...

The old carp and board cooking trick comes to mind ...

arcolaura said...

Now that's a truly big rutabaga.

I tried clapshot last year, and quite liked it.

clairesgarden said...

good crops there! I like to make curry with turnips/rutabaga and all the other veggies can go in too. looked up your 'clapshot' recipe there Laura, just always called it mashed potatoes and turnips, nice to know it has a name and it is good!

Anonymous said...

Don't you just love harvest? I just wish it wasn't followed by the cold cold winter!

Anonymous said...

I had rutabaga mixed with potato once at a Thanksgiving dinner and it was good.

I am impressed with your trowel, a nice useable school keepsake.

Anonymous said...

Well, if you compare the two photos side by side, which is how they are right now and will remain until you make another post, then that root IS bigger than your head. But not nearly as lovely.

Deb said...

madcap- Applesauce..hmmm...sounds good, maybe with a little cinnamon and nutmeg?

FC- Is that the one where you throw away the carp and eat the board?

Laura- I'm sorry, I didn't see you "big" rutabaga post until after I had posted this! I think it was all due to water availability here, or maybe this one just had some serious competitive genes.

clairesgarden- Curry- now there's another idea I haven't explored much yet.

priairie chick- the cold is coming way too soon! I know out in your area the blizzards can hit hard. So...nov. dec. jan. feb. mar. apr..at least six months to look forward to!

sandy- I am proud to be able to keep using the one and only metal tool I'll probably ever make. I think I'll sand it and give it another coat of paint this winter.

pablo- yes, it would appear that way. And yes, I am blushing. ;)