What to do with turnips?

OK, so we've heard from various members about various vegies that they aren't fond of. Beets are a common one (though pickled beets are a favorite at our table!) Also, some aren't much into kale. Etc....! For us, and me (Merlin) in particular, the one item I grow for you, not me (!) is cooking turnips. Mind you, raw salad turnips (Japanese type) are fine, and if they're sweet like in early-season, you can eat them like an apple. But cooked turnips?!!

This year, with a nice supply of good-quality cooking turnips (Purple-Top and Golden-Globe varieties), we've been on the hunt for ideas. If you can handle straight cooked turnips, more power to you!

Some ideas:

Mash them in with mashed potatoes. Add butter, or just salt and pepper to taste.

We've also used turnips in oven-roasted mixed vegetables. Cut in small pieces, they go nicely with a mix of many summer or fall vegetables. For example, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, onions, etc. Season with your favorite herb mix.

We're also trying out a "marinated radish salad", using turnips. The radish version has been tasty, so we'll see.... It's on the May 2010 page: http://sunnyslopefarm.blogspot.com/2010/05/radical-radishes-marinated-radish-salad.html

A recent favorite is "Turnips with Honey and Lemon". This is a modification of the same recipe using radishes, from the RELISH.COM web site: http://relish.com/recipes/radishes-honey-lemon/

Turnips with Honey and Lemon

2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
3-4 nice-sized cooking turnips, roots trimmed, cut to bite-size
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp chives

Whisk honey, lemon juice and vinegar in a small bowl. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add turnips and saute' 2 minutes. Add honey mixture and stir to coat. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook t minutes, or until soft, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper and chives. Serve warm or room temperature.


Send us your turnip ideas!

PONDERING PEAS...

One of the 2014 garden experiments was to do the first planting of peas in the high tunnel. I began with 2 rows in the west bed, planning to add tomatoes down the middle (on the cattle panel fence) as the ground warmed up and those starts were ready to set out. However, Merlin reminded me that we usually plant a double row which means ~300 feet of pea plants. Well, those first 2 rows only added up to ~90 feet. So, he planted the next bed over with 3 more rows. This variety is called Sugar Ann and is a sugar snap pea which will fill out its edible pod. It will also (mostly) support itself by making a mass of intertwined stems, so we don't put it on a trellis. That makes it fairly simple to clean up when it stops producing. Here is the 3-row bed from a couple different angles (note the leaf lettuce heads for size reference).



The second planting of Sugar Ann peas went into the main garden on May 3 along with a double row of Mammoth Snow peas. Many years, we get these weeded, but they grow quicker than we expect and they never get any trellis to support their growth. Harvesting is definitely easier if they're on a trellis and it gives the plants strength on our windy days, so we're trying a couple different methods of trellising this year. The second plantings should be ready to harvest when the first plants run out of strength (or we remove them to grow something else)! Photos show the two varieties 3 weeks after planting at 6"-8" tall.



The peas in the high tunnel were seeded at the end of March and beginning of April. The first harvest was last Tuesday, May 20. One one-gallon ice cream bucket full was simply NOT enough to spread out to all our Tuesday CSA shares! By Friday, though, we harvested 2 buckets which matched that day's CSA share needs. Today, I found 2 buckets on the first two rows and will pick the remaining three rows tomorrow because I ran out of storage space in my refrigerator!

Seasonal bounty is always fun to see! Both varieties are delicious when eaten raw, steamed, or in a stir-fry.

February photos

Merlin & I are still alive and well here on (occasionally) Sunny Slope Farm! We saw the sun for a few minutes today after the morning flurry passed and a mostly cloudy day. Here's what has been happening lately:

Rita has been busy finishing needlework projects--fingerless gloves and a wall hanging:


Merlin rewired a portion of the kitchen to provide better lighting:


And, TA DA!!!! The first seedlings are up! Eggplants have germinated after 2 weeks in a warm, dark location and will begin the slow process of growth toward transplantation in May.


2014 CSA shares available for purchase now: Large $500, Small $300