Roots

We are still eating down our basement stockpile of a few foods left from last summer's garden. Off the top of my head, I'd say we've got about 15 acorn squash and maybe 20 onions remaining. I let the pumpkins sit down there about a month too long, and had to pitch them last week, which was very sad. If I'd noticed sooner that they were getting droopy, I'd have gotten a few more pies out of them.

Next year I'd like to grow more foods that will just store on their own, without having to be put up through freezing or canning. I had compiled a list of some long-storing roots that I wanted to plant (which was based solely on the prettiness of each vegetable's photo in the seed catalogue), but I thought I'd better taste test them first, lest I spend all summer growing and harvesting only to find out I hated turnips, for example.

I am SO glad I had this uncharacteristic bout of foresight, because I learned:

1. Turnips, celeriac, and rutabegas are gross.

2. Parsnips taste like carrots only not as good.

3. Jeruselum artichokes are weirdly oily and nutty flavored and not so great.

4. I like beets again. This means I've apparently recovered from the last time I ate beets, which was in 10th grade when at my after school job in the kitchen at the old folks' home, the cook bet me $10 I couldn't eat the giant pile of pickled beets left over from dinner. I won, but at the cost of not being able to look a beet square in the face for the next ten years. Anyway, I'm better now, and beets are good again.

So my list of roots to grow has been pared down to one item, and it looks like I'll be freezing and canning most of our harvest after all.

Love, J