Produce in the Winter

This appeared in the November 11, 2021 edition of The Fish Wrap.

Having easy access to fresh produce in the winter is a great luxury of modernity. Our grandparents got a precious orange in their Christmas stocking, but our complicated food supply system ensures that we can find them in the produce section year round. For our ancestors, all food was locally-sourced, and if you wanted produce in winter, you needed to preserve it or find a way to keep it growing.

Forward-thinking gardeners preserve any surplus as part of harvesting. Ways to preserve produce includes canning, drying, fermenting, pickling, sugaring and storing in root cellars. A root cellar is named because it works well for root veggies. A cold/damp cellar works for things like beets, carrots and potatoes while onions, squash and sweet potatoes work better in cool/dry cellars. Root vegetables keep better when wiped off rather than washed, resting in leaves or straw. 

In winter at RLF, we eat produce we have preserved all summer, supplemented with food we purchase, from local sources when possible. But our favorite to eat and share with our customers is the produce we are continuing to grow! In mid-November, the days get so short that growth almost comes to a halt. But plants will stay alive as long as they don’t get too cold and we can keep the frost off. We have lettuce, spinach, carrots and more planted and tucked away under row covers. It’s a great thrill to have customers in parkas pick up fresh lettuce at our garden market!

Pumpkin pie and candied yams are Thanksgiving traditions because squashes and sweet potatoes are big, beautiful fall harvests that provide a lot of nutrition and store well for winter. Give thanks to mother nature as she pulls out all the stops to provide the final bountiful harvests of the year!