Winter is here.

Gone are the days of fresh green beans and sweet corn.

You may be thinking…

“I want to eat local, but what is there to eat in the winter?”

“Ok, you have root veggies but they look kind of odd.”

What do you do with them? What do they taste like?”

I was thinking the same thing a few years ago.

When we were first married I bought a cauliflower from the grocery store. My farmer husband showed me what disease it had and how old it was.

After the cauliflower incident he told me that even in the winter, we don’t need to buy veggies at the grocery store.

The next day he brought home a bag of root veggies.

I thought to myself… I can do potatoes and carrots, but what in the world do you do with a beet or that odd looking celery root.

It took a while, but I figured out what to do with everything and now we don’t have to buy any veggies at the grocery store.

Are you ready to give the root veggies a try?

First, let start out with what they all are: 

What do they taste like? Here is my description of them:

Beets:  We grow 3 kinds – Golden, Candy & Red.  Golden beets are the most mild beet that we grow.  They do not have a strong earthy flavor and are great for a person who does not like red beets or have not tried them before.  Candy beets are a really pretty pink & white stripped on the inside.  They are not quite as sweet as the golden, but not as strong as the red beets.  Red beets are your traditional beet flavor.

Rutabaga: Rutabaga is a golden color on the bottom with a purple top.  They are more milder in taste than a turnip, often substituted for potato when mashing.

Turnips:  Turnips are very white on the bottom with a purple top.  They taste like a cabbage/radish cross.

Parsnip:  They look like a white carrot, but have a thicker skin.  They are sweeter than a carrot when cooked.

Radish:  These come in lots of colors & varieties.  They have a spicy, peppery flavor.

Celery Root:  This odd looking veggie does get the attention it deserves!  It tastes just like celery.  Great to be eaten raw, added to salads, roasted or for soups.

Carrot:  Carrots come in all colors.  Our carrots are super sweet and delicious raw or cooked.

How to I store them?

We recommended that you leave your root veggies in a bag or container where they won’t be in the air.  They also need to be kept in the fridge.  If you leave them out of the bag or on the counter they will get soft.

What do I do with them?

The first thing I always recommend to do is roast them.  Roasted veggies can bring out completely different flavors, often making the sweeter.  Here is how we recommend to roast them.

Need more ideas?  Check out the recipe section of the website for tons more recipes.  The recipes are organized by the crop along the right hand side.  Find the veggie you are looking for and click on it for more ideas.

I hope that this helps you give them a try!  Trust me, they really are delicious and it is possible to eat only local food in the winter months.

Along with the root veggies we also have greens, brussel sprouts, potatoes, fall squash, onions, apples, eggs, meats and more available so you definitely won’t be going hungry this winter.

What is your favorite root veggie?  Let us know below!