Celery Root, The Ugly Duckling
If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone pick up a celery root and say something like, “What is this, it’s so ugly!” I think I’d be quite well off. It’s funny, because in France the word “céléri” refers to the celery root (a.k.a. “céléri-rave”), whereas it is always “céléri branche” for the stalks Americans know and crunch for everything from dips to diets. Celery root is also known as celeriac, and is one of three forms of celery; root, branch (or stalk), and leaf, but they are all variants of the same plant.
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We offer several varieties of apples during the late summer and fall. At our home farm, we have planted orchards of Jonagolds, Rubinettes, Waltanas and Hudson’s Golden Gems.
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What I want to know is, who was the first person to eat an artichoke, and why? Ponder the artichoke and you too may wonder this same thing. The artichoke is a member of the thistle family (a sub-group of the sunflowers), and is aptly named.
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Arugula, or “salad rocket”, is a leaf with a rich peppery flavor that originates from the Mediterranean region. It is high in Vitamin C and potassium and is often mixed with milder lettuces or greens to produce a balanced flavor in a salad or with cooked greens.
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Basil is an aromatic herb belonging to the mint family. Basil originates from India but certain varieties are used commonly in Southeast Asian cuisines. It has a strong, pungent, if sweet, smell. This versatile herb is commonly used fresh in Italian and other Mediterranean dishes, added at the very end as to not lose too much flavor.
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Beans and peas are one of those marvelous crops that not only taste delicious, they actually give back nutrients into the soil. Peas can take nitrogen out of the air and “fix” it into the soil. Nutritious for you, nutritious for the earth. We offer several kinds of beans throughout the season.
We grow several varieties of beets. Red Ace beets are the earthy deep red kind. Chioggia beets are a beautiful candy-striped beet, an heirloom variety from the Italian town of Chioggia, near Venice. Golden beets are sweet (and won’t turn everything you are cooking red).
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We have four varieties of blueberries in our blueberry patch, Southmoon, O’Neal, Misty, and Jewel–which are supposed to ripen sequentially so that we could stagger our harvest over a longer season than if we just had one variety.
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What’s in a name? Well, no roses here, but if you are talking about Brassica rapa, Chinensis , there is quite a bit in the name. Not only are there several names appended to this member of the Crucifer family, there are what appear to be several plants as well.
Braising mix is a variety of baby cooking greens. One of our favorite mixes includes mizuna mustard greens, tatsoi, red russian kale, and green kale. The tender baby greens can be sauteed quickly for a delicious side dish.
Broccoli is a member in the cabbage family, in which the large flower head is used as a vegetable. It has a strong, positive impact on our body’s detoxification system and when streamed can have beneficial effects on lowering cholesterol.
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Cabbage is a hardy member of the Brassicaceae family and grows well in High Grounds cool climate. We grow green, red and savoy cabbage, all of which are regarded as being good sources of vitamins.
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At our home farm, we have been growing Chantenay carrots for the past few years. These are wonderful fat sweet carrots perfect for cooking or juicing. The long, thin carrots of the Mokum variety, thrives in the sandy soil at the Lewis Rd. farm site.
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As an excellent source of vitamin C, and a very good source of manganese, cauliflower provides us with two core antioxidants. The grafitti (purple) and cheddar (orange) cauliflower varieties are beautiful to look at and just as tasty.
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While most people associate celery with its prized stalks, the leaves, roots and seeds can also be used as a food and seasoning as well as a natural medicinal remedy. Celery is in the carrot family, and if left to flower, attracts many beneficial insects.
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We grow several varieties of chard. You might see Ruby Red, Golden, White or a Rainbow of colors. Chard is a member of the beet family, but unlike beets, it is the leaves and stalks that are eaten. Chard’s leaves are always green, but the stalks can be a variety of colors ranging from red to yellow to white. High in Vitamins C, K, A and Iron, chard is one of the most nutrient-rich vegetables around.
Cilantro, or coriander leaves, is an annual herb and member of the carrot family. It is widely used in Mexican, Caribbean and Asian cooking. Cilantro has antioxidant and antibacterial properties and is said to aid digestion, anxiety and Type 2 diabetes.
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Collard greens are a part of the brassica family, along with cabbage and broccoli, but lacks a central “head”, so it is the oval-shaped leaves that are eaten. Collards are a good source of vitamin C and soluble fiber, and have nutrients with anti-cancer properties.
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I can remember back to a time that I just didn’t get the appeal of fennel. This course, stringy, strongly scented vegetable didn’t seem worth the trouble to cook. But now I can honestly say that it is among my very favorite vegetables. I fully realize that there are many of our CSA members who still don’t “get” fennel, and if you are among these, you simply must try Jeanne’s recipe for roast fennel and onions.
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Green garlic is young garlic which is harvested before the cloves have begun to mature. It resembles a scallion, with a deep green stalk and a pale white bulb, but has a garlicky taste.
