Having spotted the Harvest Monday sharing meme on Mark’s Veg Plot recently, I thought it might be fun to join in. Here’s a quick shot of some root veg – parsnips and salsify – that I lifted on Saturday, along with a few small leeks.
I honey-baked the roots yesterday afternoon, along with a few (shop-bought) carrots to accompany a chicken. I can now definitely vouch for the phenomenon mentioned in my earlier post on the benefits of a good, hard frost: the parsnips were definitely sweeter (although some of that would have been the honey, etc.) and the turpene-flavours much less pronounced. The salsify was fuller-flavoured as well, quite delicious. I’ll definitely be growing them both again this year. Oh, and the leeks will be going into a chicken risotto tonight, to make best use of the leftover meat from yesterday’s dinner.
This week’s Harvest Monday is hosted by Michelle at From Seed to Table and next week reverts to its usual home with Dave at Our Happy Acres.
8 replies on “Harvest Monday for 22nd January 2016”
Some nice harvests for early January – also love the chicken risotto idea. We have some leftover chicken as well and that, together with some of our frozen veg from last years garden, would make a wonderful meal. I’ve not grown parsnips yet, but they are on the list for this coming year.
Thanks Margaret. The risotto was rather delicious (if I do say so myself). I made it with fresh chicken stock from yesterday’s bones, and added in some leftover baked squash as well.
I’ve grown parsnips a couple of times now and cross-fingers haven’t run into any major problems, although I know they can be tricky to germinate. I think it might have helped that I sowed them quite late last year to fill in a gap on the plot.
Interesting to see your salsify harvest, I’ve never grown it but almost purchased some seeds recently. And I agree about the sweetening effects of frost, it only took a few light ones to sweeten up my parsnips. Welcome to Harvest Monday, it’s fun to see a new garden!
Thank you Michelle, I’ll try to join in as often as I can, although my harvests may be a bit same-y for the next few weeks… there’s not much else happening down on the plot, apart from a bit of kale and maybe some purple sprouting broccoli. One of my goals for this season is to up my game on the winter crops.
What a great root harvest! Not many folks grow salsify, including me. Though I have tasted it. Your honey-baked treatment sounds yummy.
Cheers Dave! I can definitely recommend salsify. The roots aren’t as substantial as parsnips or main-crop carrots, but they more than make up for it with a lovely, earthy umami flavour. There’s also Scorzonera hispanica, or black salsify, a darker-skinned variety which I’m hoping to try this year.
We’ve never grown salsify – how would you describe the flavour?
To me it’s a bit like parsnip without the strong turpene flavours. Not so sweet, perhaps, a bit more umami. It’s not a strong flavour, but it is distinct. (Apologies for the delay, btw, my over-zealous spam-filter nabbed your comment for some reason).