The season of winter is upon us...don't miss it

A typical array of Tierra goods that might be available this time in the season is shown above....this was actually Dominique's purchase last season prior to her joining the staff and committing her time and energy to the success of the farm. Included is one giant parsnip, a colorful carrot array, sunchokes, puntarella, romanesco, Sangre de Toro beans and perhaps a few beets squeezed into the back drop.

While this is a tough time in the season that always includes failures and items missing that you may desire (perfect spring lettuces or luscious summer Seascapes), it is also a time of unique bounty that must be enjoyed now before it is time to move on to other seasonal spring bounty (for instance, asparagus is not far away) and while the plants are in their winter prime. This includes items such as the chicories, or hearty winter bitter greens. Yum both raw and cooked, it is hard to get enough of these. They will not remain when warmth kicks in in another month or two. Enjoy them now! Dried beans will store, but this is a darned good time to make use of them when other things are lacking. We are thankful to have carrots remaining in stock as long as we do not sell them all and as long as they hold under wet and freezing soils....I think the deer have even started demolishing the carrot tops to some extent, the challenges never end. Pretty soon it will be time again to try the cardoon, a seasonal stalk that takes like artichoke, but looks more like celery. The winter squash do not hold forever and now is the time to enjoy storage crops like these and onions and potatoes before their storage time is up! Brassica plants like broccolis, kale, cabbages will eventually want to flower and set seeds, destroying their edibility for the most part, so these almost must be enjoyed throughout the winter period.

Brussels, celery root, parsnips, beets, and dried beans. To some it may seem like the dark period in farming, for me it is hard to begin to choose....

Enjoy your winter veggies, they are waiting to be harvested for your tables!

Puntarelle

A young puntarelle busily maturing in the Tierra field

PUNTARELLE is a variety of chicory, with serrated leaves, like those on dandelions, attached to the base of the plant and surrounding long, hollow, blunt-tipped whitish-green shoots that grow from the inside of the plant during the course of the winter. Also known as Catalogna de Galatina, puntarelle is a good representation of the flavors we usually expect of the chicory family. Its flavor profile hints at pepperiness like arugula in the leaves, a touch of fennel in the stalks and an underlying flavor that is a cross between chicory and endive. The shoots have the crisp, satisfying crunch of celery. Tasty raw or cooked, cooking mellows puntarelle's unusual flavor, so the shoots and leaves are most often served raw in salad, particularly a salad with a rich, powerful anchovy dressing that makes the faint bitterness seem almost sweet. It's the traditional treatment in Italy. Some chefs recommend slicing the hollow spears of the puntarelle VERY thinly lengthwise, and soaking them in a large quantity of cold water for two to three hours. This causes the thin strips to curl up in an extraordinary manner and they become juicier and less bitter. Other chefs exploit the sharp flavor by using rich ingredients like sardines and trout to help balance puntarelle's assertiveness. Feta cheese and black olives also complement this unusual vegetable.

**Credit to theproducehunter.com where this text was copied and pasted word for word

A puntarelle with a funny center being demonstrated for the camera by Lee-it grew more linear than they usually do, more often the hearts are full of a circle of stalks-tastes no different, of course

Myself and a Ferry Plaza market customer posed with this prized, Tierra-grown puntarelle last winter. Quite popular with city folk and chefs, the majority sell out in the wee hours of market