Sprout and About: Weeding through the Goods!

Salad bar beets, full of taste and healthy pride.

What's your favorite veggie, and what's your favorite way to prepare it? This has been the question for many a young farmer to deliberate upon during week 4 of summer programming whilst assisting in the relentless weed removal. With the beginning of August fast approaching, summer reminds us that it is a fleeting and fast paced season for many northern New Englanders. The long days encourage you never to blink away a moment, and the incessantly enlarging peas second the notion. But blink the Laraway kitchen has not, for they have been packaging and processing all the young farmers have been harvesting, which includes over 50 raring to be eaten beets. While not always the easiest to deal with, beets provide nutrients (and deliciousness!) throughout their whole. The greens easily replace a kale or spinach in a recipe, and the namesake root is relatively versatile depending on tastes. While often seen in boiled form in salads, or pickled as in the kitchen choice pictured, we had several adventurous youth try a raw beet freshly washed. While it didn't seem to be a favorite among the red mustard leaves, carrot, and peas options, it was described as "sour and crunchy." It does provide many of those eyesight enhancing nutrients that carrots are praised for, as well as the iron found in other leafy greens, so find a recipe of your choosing! Even the purple stains are worth it.

Submitted by Hannah Bober, VYDC AmeriCorps State member