Plate to Plate

Last Friday was the very last winter distribution from the root cellar at my CSA, Caretaker Farm, and I thought you might like to join me there. Despite the frigid temperatures and the stark landscape, I sometimes like visiting the farm in winter more than I do in summer — there is something very beautiful about the stillness, the dormancy, and the pervasive quiet of the farm during the deep freeze of January and February.

The root cellar is in the basement of the barn that serves as the distribution area. We’re lucky to be able to continue to pick up storage and root vegetables for as long as supplies last.

It’s slightly humid in the root cellar, and a little bit warmer than outside. The humidity has washed all the notes off the chalkboard.

For a while there were potatoes and garlic and onions in the root cellar, but now it’s just carrots and beets.

Not sure what’s in these bags. At the beginning of last season, the bags were stuffed with rutabagas, and Dan and I had the unpleasant task of rooting through them after they’d been stored all winter — some of them were less-than-fresh. Dan took to singing a 1920s-inspired tune called “Rotten Rutabagas!”

On the way out, I saw a cat resting in a sunbeam.

Outside, a cow relaxes before a backdrop of bare branches on the lavender-gray hillside.

See you next year, Caretaker!