Tonight I picked up my 100 pounds of roots and tubers from Michael “Skeeter” Pilarski’s organic farm near Tonasket in north-central Washington state. They are beautiful and I can’t wait to transform them into nourishing fall and winter foods for my family! Because I got them through a large buy that Sustainable Greenlake orchestrated they were so inexpensive for organic produce.
People for eons have subsisted on roots and tubers stored in cellars to get them through to the spring crops and I plan to follow in their footsteps. These will supplement nicely the fall brassicas I have planted and the kale and collard greens that are going strong in my garden. I do have several beds of carrots planted but now we don’t have to ration them. No matter how many carrots you plant it’s never enough. Especially when that juicer comes out of the cupboard or someone wants a nice, moist morning glory muffin.
Here is a little bit about Michael in his own words:
I have been farming organically since 1972. I was one of the founders of Tilth in 1974. I am the founder of the Okanogan Barter Faire and many other gatherings. One of the longest and most active permaculture teachers on the West coast.
My dream market for vegies is to sell to buying clubs like Sustainable Green Lake.
I also farm and wildcraft over 200 kinds of medicinal plants. And I currently am organizing the Okanogan Feast, a local foods dinner for Okanogan County.
I’ll be posting many more beet and carrot recipes in the days to come because I’ve got lots! For now though I’ll leave you with a recipe from Communtiy Kitchens for Beet Chocolate Cake. You can read more about Community Kitchens NW.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I have been making beet cocoa muffins for my kids and they have no idea what is in there. I was also thinking if you puree the beets finely or simply add some of the cooking water to a white or chocolate cake recipe you could easily get a Red Velvet Cake which normally relies on artificial food coloring.
Beet Chocolate Cake
This cake is incredibly moist and delicious! The beets add a marvelous sweetness without being overpowering.
1 ½ cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup oil
1 ½ cups water
2 small beets, grated
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp vanillaInstructions:
• Mix dry ingredients together. Make sure to get out any clumps of cocoa powder.
• Combine wet ingredients in a measuring cup.
• Shred beets into a bowl. Combine with wet ingredients.
• Add wet to dry and mix just enough to moisten all the ingredients.
• Oil and flour baking pans
• Pour batter into cake pans and place in oven for 30-35 minutes until middle bounces back when done.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Charlottte Gore // Oct 30, 2009 at 9:52 am
do you have an old fashioned cellar to store them in? would love to know how you are going to store them, I never have done a big purchase of root vegies for fear they will go bad and then I am not saving any money at all!
2 admin // Oct 30, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I don’t. The potatoes should be fine all winter in a cardboard box or brown paper bags so they can breathe but they need darkness or they can get green which can be toxic.
The carrots and beets should be in moist sand with the greens twisted off first. You could use any old rubbermaid tub and get playsand from Home Depot to fill it with. I’m actually tempted to bury ours in the sandbox which is covered so kitty free.
3 kitsapFG // Oct 31, 2009 at 11:55 am
Root crops are definitely a winter staple in our household. You are absolutely correct that you cannot have enough carrots planted. I have several patches of them and we will use them all before the winter is out. The potatoes, carrots, and parsnips form a good foundation that is then augmented by the winter harvest crops and our preserved items.
The produce looks like it is really top quality.
4 admin // Oct 31, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Hi Kitsap FG – we were really lucky that Sustainable Greenlake formed a relationship with a farmer and committed to buying directly. Next week when my husband has so many work committments I’ll be starting some beet/carrot kvass and other lacto-fermentation projects. I can’t wait!
Do you ever get over to Seattle? I’m about to make too much pear marmalade & jalapeno jelly this weekend. I’d love to swap you for something!
5 Sara // Nov 1, 2009 at 2:18 am
ooohhh, I am definitely trying to figure out how to use my beets! Could you share the recipe for the Beet Coco Muffins, please? and Thank you for keeping up on your blog and sharing all of this with us! You are such an inspiration and make each day I read a little more brighter!
6 admin // Nov 1, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Hi Sara – thanks so much for the online hug! I am making “pink cupcakes” for breakfast right now so I’ll be posting that hopefully tomorrow night. For now though I use this recipe: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=1470 and add 1/4 cup cocoa powder, or 1/3 c carob and decrease the sugar by 1/4 cup since I think they are normally too sweet for breakfast and carob doesn’t require any add’l sweetener like cocoa powder does. I sub peeled, grated then finely chopped beets for the carrots but I keep the apple in. I don’t add raisins. If your beet was so large the dough is too dry add a few tablespoons of buttermilk or milk. I often also add 1/4 cup almond meal to up the protein so it’s a more complete breakfast. That’s a lot of changes I guess! I’ll post that tomorrow as a clean recipe so it’s not so confusing but this will get you started.
xo,
Annette
7 admin // Nov 1, 2009 at 10:56 pm
ps some of my beets got fuzzy already which has never happened to me before, even when I bought them at the grocers so I am making beet kvass, made beet/carrot/apple juice today and tomorrow I’ll be pickling, lacto fermenting and making borscht to freeze from the rest of them so they last longer. More details to follow once I’m done cooking!
8 More Roots and Tubers // Nov 11, 2009 at 2:26 am
[...] A few weeks back we did a big roots and tubers buy directly from the organic farmer in Eastern WA. I have more info on him in this post. [...]
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