Rooted in Nourishing Roots

What a time to be a farmer! Just when we thought the rains were coming, here we are basking in the November sun! No complaints here. Nothing lifts the spirits like some sunshine when this time last year we were swimming in mud brought about by an atmospheric river of rain.

It’s wild to witness the farm as the seasons change. For me, this farm feels more and more like home. And when the fields start to empty and the crew shrinks, I imagine it’s what a parent must feel like when their kids go off to school and the house starts to feel a little quieter. Luckily, there’s plenty to keep our brains busy and our hands occupied. Storage crops galore ready to be barrel washed, carrots still to pull out of the ground, radicchio still holding strong in the fields, and winter project lists in the making. The dynamics of life on the farm make it seem like these seasons happen in the blink of an eye. Walking the farm, entire swaths of field empty other than scraps of recently harvested roots or cover crop laying its protective blanket over the soil. But wasn’t it just yesterday I was planting those seeds, transplanting these babies into our fields, frantically trying to keep up as the weeds came on?! I watch as the farm at once booms with life but also inches towards the inevitability of rest, of winter. But now I’m getting ahead of myself.

This season brings me one of my greatest joys of being human, of nourishing myself: ROOTS and complex carbohydrates like squash. While I enjoy the stereotypical fruits of summer, there’s something about the fall and winter produce that grounds me in my bones. As the days get shorter, and our human skins and inner clocks are exposed to less sunlight, our body has a much different capacity for metabolizing sugars (but I’ll avoid rambling about the circadian physiology for now – isn’t this a CSA newsletter?!) – while the constant sunlight of summer allows us to easily metabolize simpler sugars, the decrease in daylight means we do much better with those sugars when they come alongside a larger spectrum of fibers. Wouldn’t you know, mother nature is on it! I suppose we really did evolve alongside these beautiful plants under the same sun. Add this to your list of “reasons to eat food grown locally!” Hello, squash, potatoes, celeriac, parsnips, beets, oh my! This must be what heaven feels like. A simple meal of well-cooked and pureed roots with some local lamb on top, shared with friends – I can’t think of anything better. It truly warms my heart and soul. Just what a gal needs when the temps start to drop and I’m wearing two pairs of socks in each boot. And now I’m hungry! Hope you are too!

~Nat