It’s February. Do you know where your veggies are?

by George Packard on February 8, 2010 · 2 comments


Local link: Kearsarge Mountain CSA
Last year about this time we talked with Warner, NH farmer Larry Pletcher about his new greenhouse and his ambition to sell winter greens to the greens-starved masses of the Kearsarge area (view earlier blog). And in fact, he’s gone and done just that. Imagine! Buying and eating greens in the middle of winter here in Warner, NH. But wait! There’s more! This winter he’s provided some calorie crop veggies to the shareholders of his winter CSA as well: beets, potatoes and a few other root vegetables.

Now, if you are a dedicated localvore, you know that finding somebody in February who’s got winter storage and calorie crops tucked away (potatoes, turnips, parsnips, squash, carrots, cabbage, beets, onions, garlic, etc.) and who is willing to sell them, is the difference between eating mostly local year-round, or breaking your vows and heading for the supermarket.

For some reason, NH vegetable farmers have been a little behind their colleagues in Maine in terms of producing and selling winter storage crops, but Larry is catching up. We visited him in late January, just days after he finished building a new winter storage barn at his Vegetable Ranch on Kearsarge Mountain Road. [read more…]

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