There was a bounty of vegetables and greens at the last Enright CSA packout of the season on Saturday, November 5. In fact, there was so much food in the last distribution that it was hard to even pick up bags laden with cabbage, beets, winter squash, turnips, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and more. Special thanks to folks who worked packout that morning--besides the abundance of harvest to process, it was also quite chilly, so it was a challenge to get everything ready for pickup. Of course, working hard is a great way to warm up on a chilly morning.
And it was worth it to see everyone happily loading up on fresh, locally grown vegetables, including some that will keep for awhile--those root vegetables and winter squash in particular. You can try preserving some of that cabbage as sauerkraut, too. There are only two ingredients in sauerkraut--cabbage and noniodized salt. The only other thing you need is patience, as you first grate the cabbage and then wait for it to ferment, skimming off the scum that forms on top every few days.
Did I say "scum"? Yes, growing and preserving your own food is not always pretty, but I hope the rest of the Enright CSA members agree with me that it is well worth it to get to eat food whose history you know--you know where it was grown, who grew it, how it got to you (not travelling far), and what it has "in" it. It's been a great season, and we're already planning for 2012. Until spring, we can enjoy those frozen green beans, preserved pickles, fermented cabbage, and other food we learned to store when it was in abundance this summer and fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment