The rocky hills of Trondheim, Norway were under a foot of fresh snow, and I found myself on a biodynamic veg farm filming with the Cook It Raw Norway team. I’d filmed a lot of veg farms, but none this picturesque, and certainly never in winter. Pretty tough to find something interesting to talk about on a veg farm in … Read More
The Cider Cellar
Once upon a time, I built a wine cellar. In order to make decent wine from the grape vines in my back yard, I was advised to practice on other fruit. I practiced on apples. Now my wine cellar’s really a cider cellar. Perhaps cider/charcuterie cellar would be most appropriate. If I call it a wine cellar, it’s only because … Read More
Episode 25: Cellar Food
Strange. It’s mid-December, the soil’s frozen, plants toast – but counterintuitively, this time of year is one of the best times of year food-wise. The freezers are full of a variety of meats, fruits, stocks, lard, and more. The wine cellar’s full of apple wines, ciders, and dry cured pork and game, while the root cellar is an exciting world … Read More
Root Veg Harvest 2011
Harvesting root veg demarcates the border between fall and winter for me. Since September I’ve been watching the weather, waiting for the cold to come that would force my hand and make me get the produce into the cellar. It was an especially fun game this year with a remarkably temperate fall. I feel like I got away with something … Read More
Dry Beans – Preliminary Verdict [2011 harvest]
Last night I tackled the next round of bean harvest and shelling. I’m realizing one of the perks of being small-scale on this I can harvest as they ripen – which they are not doing all at once – and it’s actually quite pleasurable to sit and shell them. Yes I will likely thresh them as my production increases. Some … Read More
Dry Beans – 2011 Harvest Begins
Dry bean harvest has begun. This is my 3rd year at it, and it’s now one of the crops that gets me most excited. There are some seriously compelling reasons to grow this stuff. First, there is no other substantial protein from the garden that can store as well and as easily. No solar dehydrator here – leave them out … Read More
Airing Out The Cellar
This is a first for me, despite it likely becoming an annual ritual for decades to come: airing out the root cellar. I’d noticed starting sometime in May that my 1 year old cellar was starting to smell like that of some old grandparent. Musty, kinda stinky, but familiar enough to not be altogether unpleasant. Then I remembered reading somewhere … Read More
The Last [Root Cellar] Supper
I’m out. April 16th will mark the 2011 date that I ran out of 2010 garden veg in the root cellar. Turns out in one meal, I ran out of potatoes, carrots, and beets – all at the same time. Things may have been able to hold out longer, but quality was definitely starting to suffer. In best shape were … Read More
Carrot Storage: Washed Beats Unwashed
I’ve had cats. One of the carrots looks like a carrot, and the other like something scooped from a litter box. In the weird little world I live in, this is important research. All of the root cellaring books – including the most widely respected ones – advise not washing root veg before storage. A major no-no. So I intended … Read More
Flax Aioli & Carrot Slaw
This is long over due. Long, long, long overdue. I have come to feel very strongly about winter slaws. Despite all my root cellar bliss, I thought that the one thing I’d long for is salad in the dead of winter, but honestly, I am still diggin’ the slaws. This one is carrot from the cellar with a touch of … Read More
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