Roots of My Labor

Ruthless.

Pretty much this is why I try to grow my own food.  The chain of custody doesn’t have too many links in it.  I don’t worry about my kid eating any of the food we grow here, even in its natural state.  Whether it is carrots or meat and milk, we know where it has been.

I suspect this is why many people don’t want to grow their own food.  It’s dirty and hard work.  But this is the real deal.  Our cold weather disappeared with a warm front – it felt like a spring day today.  Just like a root cellar, I have to check on the roots in the garden, watching for vole or freezing damage and just generally to gauge just how the supply is holding out.

I like the snow insulation we have been having as of late, but it does give the voles a free rein too.

Della and Ruthless.

On the digging agenda today was roots for Jane, the kitchen and specimens for seed production.  It’s been quite a journey growing roots for the milk cow as a grain replacement.  I started when Della was a young cow, the first was carrots, it proved easy to grow an extra 300 row feet and store them because they keep in the soil in our location until April.  Dig as needed.  And then the epiphany, when I read in an older copy of Feeds and Feeding about Channel Island farmers growing parsnips for winter feed for their cattle.  Perfect!  Since Guernseys are a Channel Island breed.  Parsnips are even more frost resistant than carrots and keep as well, sometimes until May.

Parsnip stecklings for seed.

Immediately when I read that about parsnips, it made perfect sense, the more deep-rooted a plant is, the more minerals that plant has access to, which in turn makes for a more nutritious vegetable.  You can see in the photo above just how much deeper that parsnip grew compared to the carrot.  Root crops fell from favor when farms became more mechanized and grain was easily harvested and shipped.  And root crops were and still are considered peasant food and not nearly as romantic as corn and other warm weather crops, after all they just sit there quietly doing their job of harvesting sunlight.  No fanfare, no quaint planting methods or tricks, just plain ol’ roots.

I have to say though, that the no muss, no fuss roots that take us through the winter, carrots, rutabagas, beets, potatoes, celery root and parsnips definitely have a place on my survival list.  Or at least my vegetable list… .

What are your favorite vegetables that take you through the winter without fail?