Peters Creek Farm: Spring carrots

Two weeks ago there was no snow on the ground. Two weeks ago we had a wonderful weekend with temperatures that soared well above the normal high of 48 degrees and landed at 65 degrees on Sunday afternoon. It seemed that spring was indeed right around the corner. I took my usual walk around the farm with the beagles and along the way I passed through the old carrot patch. Everything that was green in the garden has been thoroughly eaten by all the deer that forage their way through the winter months. We had pretty much written off the carrots, but as I walked across the bare dirt, I noticed something. There WERE carrots in the ground. Lots of them. The tops had been eaten off and sometimes a chunk of the carrot itself had been bitten off right at the level of the ground. I started pulling up carrot after carrot after carrot and they didn't look bad at all. The ground had preserved them in very good condition. It felt good putting my fingers into the wet earth and pulling out my prize. It was like finding hidden treasure. This time of year nearly all the vegetables we eat are ones that I have either canned or frozen from our farm. The thought of fresh from the ground carrots was making my mouth water. I took my prize back to the house and gave them a good scrubbing.

Within a short time I was eating a plate full of cooked carrots seasoned with just a little butter and salt. What a treat for this time of year.

Mike and I are still discussing if we should pick some for market. We can certainly trim up the munched on ends, but traditionally carrots are sold with the green tops on. I'm not sure anyone would buy them without the tops. It seems sad that all these carrots should go to waste because the tops were there to feed the deer.

Mother Nature has decided to make sure though that we don't have to worry about harvesting carrots from the ground. Last Saturday it snowed. Then on the first day of spring it snowed. And the next day it snowed more. For going on two weeks now, our high temperatures have been running at least 15 degrees below normal. Most of the days this past week, our high temperature did not even reach what our normal low temperature should be. Snow this time of year is like some cruel hoax, but there is nothing to do but take a big sigh and know that spring will be here eventually. In the meantime, the snow does make for some pretty scenery.

The big maple tree behind our house in the early morning light.