Wild Roots Farm Update ~Winter CSA WeeK #6

Hey Members, 

Order your Main Season CSA NOw!

This sun and warmth after all that cold/wind/ice/snow has brought some wind into the sails of team Wild Roots. It's like you don't really realize just how much sun affects your spirits until it makes these fleeting appearances in the Winter. The sun hits your face and suddenly, things just feel lighter and hope returns. We have made full use of this lovely weather on the farm - cleaning up a bit after the storm, digging all the parsnips, and just organizing last season's messes. The storm made quite the mess and we ended up losing the plastic on our second high tunnel, which is really a huge bummer. It was full of greens and roots just on the verge of being ready for harvest. We are brainstorming a LOT about how to remedy this situation in the future because losing our plastic impacts not only our Winter crops planted inside them but also our ability to plant in the Spring. Plastic can only be pulled when temperatures are above 50 and there is no wind (which in the Winter is incredibly rare). How we lost the plastic exactly (ice, wind, some other failure, a combo) is a bit of a mystery but we think having a thicker plastic could help along with more straps that help to hold the plastic tight. Just another farming lesson that we plan on REALLY learning from this time - THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!

The Wild Roots Farm team of 2023

It was so nice today to have the full Winter team together - Cal, Bailey, Stephen and I. With all of our separate vacations, sick days and the ice storm, we haven't all been out at the farm since before Christmas! It's sadly the last day of this 2023 crew working together as Cal will be concentrating on other things other than farming this year. His care for the farm, dry sense of humor, kind manner, and ability to help me organize the CSA will be greatly missed but I think I'll miss our deep conversations the most. I've learned so much from him. I just have to say that this has been one of the best crews ever. Period. End of story. The support, love, and care we have all shown for each through a trying season honestly humbles me and brings me to tears.

Look at all those parsnips!

We were able to spend this morning as a team digging the last of the parsnips from the field. Thankfully they were not adversely affected by the storm at all - in fact they are sweeter! While digging, Bailey discovered a HUGE earthworm. It led us to wonder how worms survive the cold and I thought, ohh.. time to do a nerdy deep dive! I've made some quick summaries about earthworms and if you have time/curiousity I highly recommend reading the wikipedia page on worms. It's so fascinating! They have brains - what if they are conscious and we just don't know?!?!? What would they think of the state of the world?!?

Bailey's earthworm!

Earthworms are typically only a few inches (7 or 8 centimeters) long although some members of this species have been known to grow to a snakelike 14 inches (35 centimeters). One worm (not an earthworm) was discovered along the Mekong River in China that was three meters long - honestly not sure how I feel about that (Tremors anyone?). Their bodies are made up of ringlike segments called annuli. These segments are covered in setae, or small bristles, which the worm uses to move and burrow. What?! I imagine them to be just like those oblong feather dusters just scooting around in the soil. These terrestrial worms typically dwell in soil and moist leaf litter. Their bodies are characterized by a "tube within a tube" construction, with an outer muscular body wall surrounding a digestive tract that begins with the mouth in the first segment. As they burrow, they consume soil, extracting nutrients from decomposing organic matter like leaves and roots. During the Winter, most worms stay in their burrows (which are deep) and are prisoners of sorts below the hard, frozen ground.  They coil up tightly and coat themselves in a protective slime going into estivation (hibernation). This is how they survive the freezing cold temperatures of Winter! They will remain in this state until conditions improve which they have this past week thankfully and I imagine this worm had some pretty extreme "burrow fever" and wanted to come feel the power of the sun. Another fun worm fact - Earthworms are hermaphrodites: each worm carries male and female reproductive organs and genital pores. When mating, two individual earthworms will exchange sperm and fertilize each other's ova. Once again, I'm left in awe at just how truly amazing nature is.

The chickens, loving the sun just as much as us!

Thankfully some radicchio did survive the cold and we removed the outer, brown slime layers to expose their stunning magenta and white leaves.

I find these decomposing radicchio leaves to be so beautiful. Their veins remind me of bones.

What Will be in This Week's CSA SHare:

• butternut squash (from our friends at Empowered Flowers)
• daikon radish
• Mary's magic dust
• Diecimino beans
• parsnips
• yellow onions
• radicchio mix
• braising mix

What farmer Mary would do with this CSA share:

Alright you ask, what is Mary's magic dust? Some of you have received it in the past but for those who have not - it's a fermented Calabrian chili and garlic powder. We ferment a mash of chilis and garlic with 6% salt, strain it, dehydrate it, then grind it into a powder. It's a lot of labor and I think you'll agree all the work is totally worth it. I love to sprinkle it on popcorn, roasted pumpkin seeds, onto cooked beans, or onto roasted veggies. Parsnips are one of my favorite soup vegetables! They hold their texture so well. How about a late Winter minestrone soup with parsnips, onion, braising mix and beans? Some chunks of butternut would also be a fabulous addition! Minestrone in Italian just means "thick vegetable soup" that traditionally has dried beans and pasta. Never limit yourself with this soup - it's so easy to make it with whatever veggies you have. Or maybe try this parsnip dumpling soup - I've made it before and it's truly divine - just pillows of sweet parsnips in a delicate broth. I used to think you could only make potato or zucchini pancakes, but why stop there?! Any vegetable can be shredded and eaten in a pancake - duh I say to myself. How about some daikon pancakes? A simple, quick dinner - roasted up squash cubes tossed in Mary's magic dust, olive oil and salt then thrown over a bed of radicchio with some crumbly cheese (blue or gorgonzola).

Much love, Farmer Mary
she/her

Wild Roots Farm