Fall/Winter salads?

[Jess]

I am determined to keep eating local this winter (we managed last winter, but just barely, and I think I ended up with a minor case of scurvy). I've been eating a lot of shredded beets, the last of the outdoor lettuce, chard, cabbage and carrots with balsamic, almonds and a touch of goat cheese...as the season progresses, I'd love to hear what everyone else is eating.

Yes, we did cold frames - mache (corn salad), freckle lettuce, chard, kale, spinach - but I'm curious about alternative salads, especially as I am in northern New Hampshire and not much green stuff survives the winter....

Jess.

[eric rochow]

wow. i was just talking about eating local, and the economies of scale for our next Gardenfork Radio show.

i'd be curious to see what else people eat in the winter, does food you canned during the summer count?

Sheperd Ogden , author of the 4 Season Harvest, makes the winter food thing happen, but it is labor intensive.

[Jess]

I can a lot during the summer, and of course it counts! The only hitch is that this summer's tomato crop went into the burn pile thanks to the blight, and other concerns cut down my time in the garden this year. I normally have over 100 quarts of applesauce, 50 of tomato, and lots of other stuff put by, but this year it's all rhubarb jam, blueberries (frozen and canned), black raspberries (ditto), onions, garlic, turnips, rutabaga, potatoes (the blight got them but I took down the plants and saved the spuds)...I will SO miss tomatoes this winter!

I get a share from my winter CSA, one in November and one in December, and that will help, but otherwise I'm on my own with what I can harvest here. There are leeks, carrots, brussels sprouts, cabbages, and greens still in the garden, so we'll see how we do come our first heavy snow...

Oh, and I think I will post a chapter from Education of a Flatlander that's about winter larder fatigue...

Have you read Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest and Winter Harvest (out new from Chelsea Green Publishers)?

Best, Jess.

[milgwimper]

Why not try preserving some of the greens as kimchi? In korea they make a lot of kimchi to last the winter, and after it starts to ferment leave it in a cold refrigerator. If it gets too sour you can always make soup, or kimchi pancakes, or kimchi fried rice etc. Sauerkraut and kimchi will cure scurvy. :P :) Also you can make all types of stuff into kimchi, fruit, radishes, mustard greens, cabbage, etc, and not all kimchi is spicy.

[Jess]

I love kimchi! Great idea!

[Drew Newman]

BAECHOO KIMCHI
 
3 lbs. baechoo (Korean cabbage) or regular white cabbage
2 c. water
1/2 c. salt
1/2 c. shredded white radish (cut 1/8 inch thick and 2 inches long)
1 c. shredded green onions (cut in 1 to 1 1/2 inch strips)
1 tbsp. chopped fresh garlic
1 tsp. chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsp. cayenne powder
3 tbsp. salted anchovy juice or salted shrimp juice
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Remove outside 3 or 4 leaves of cabbage and set them aside. Cut cabbage into quarters lengthwise and put the quartered cabbage into a large deep pan.
Combine 1/2 cup salt and the 2 cups of water and pour over cabbage. Let it stand at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until the cabbage softens. Remove cabbage from pan; rinse the cabbage well with fresh water. Let it drain.
Combine shredded vegetables with garlic, ginger, cayenne, salted anchovy or shrimp juice, sugar and salt and pack mixture between the cabbage leaves. Put the cabbage into a jar and cover it tightly. Let it stand at room temperature for 2 days to ripen, then store it in the refrigerator. It stores for about 2 weeks.