I mentioned that we had bought carrots at the Mennonite market Tuesday and the man said they should have more on Friday. We had to run up to visit with the other Mennonite guy so we stopped by the grocery store on the way back. The farmer had not arrived yet . . we were there pretty early so Vince was picking up a few things he wanted and we were checking out and the farmer walked in! We were so happy . . we got in the car to leave and I told Vince . . we’re so weird! No one should get so excited over carrots!
Three bundles of carrots. They’re sitting on a bag containing a bundle of beets.
The carrot greens are soaking. I’ve rinsed them at least six times and will probably rinse them one more time before starting a load in the freeze dryer.
The beet greens are soaking. I’ll cook those tomorrow. Yum!
I’ll roast the beets and add them to a salad . . probably enough for two salads.
We got a one pound bag of brussels sprouts. How pretty are those? My brussels sprouts produced a bit but froze so they’re done. I will try planting them in pots next year and see if they can survive winter in the greenhouse. It all depends on whether we have a winter like last year or a winter like the year before or this year.
From one bunch of carrots, I got 2 pints and a jar . . was it pasta sauce or olives?? I can’t remember. It’s larger than a pint but not a quart jar . . anyway . . you see the three jars of freeze dried carrot greens. There’s also about half of a half pint jar of powdered stems. The stems, I find, stay tough but freeze drying (and maybe dehydrating would work the same way), then running through the blender makes them very usable.
I use the greens in place of parsley and in most recipes, you can’t tell the difference.
By the time I get all the greens freeze dried, I think I should end up with about 14 pints of dried leaves and probably two pints of stem powder.
For the stems, I will add a tablespoon or two to soups or gravies for added flavor and added nutrition. Much better than throwing away those carrot tops, right.
One note, I would recommend using organic carrots/tops. For root veggies, I always prefer organic and since eating the tops, organic is best.
JanetB says
The brussel sprouts are beautiful!
Susan says
Since I can’t eat a lot of things, like celery and onions and similar things, I think making them into powder would be a great soup addition, adding more flavor. I also like spinach, but not spinach stems, so that would be another thing to powder. Since it all goes in the soup, they could be dried and powdered together, too, to fill up the jars, because I’m not going to have as much as you do. Thanks for that inspiration for adding flavor. I don’t like adding just dried spices, it isn’t the same.
Karen says
When I was growing up in England my father who grew his own vegetables used to traditionally pick a sprout ( a stem of brussel sprouts) on Christmas Day. Frost or no frost, in fact frosted we’re deemed better. They grow them in Norfolk where frosts are common.