The season's first meal

The tomatoes under the lights downstairs are merely tiny seedlings and the spinach outdoors is just starting to germinate, but we've already enjoyed the first bounty of the season.

Last fall, for whatever reason, not all of the parsnips got harvested. The creamy white root vegetables spent the winter underground, under a layer of straw, topped by the snow. When the ground thawed this spring, the straw was pulled back and the parsnips were ready for harvest. And, oh, what a beautiful harvest!


This was a week or so ago and we hadn't yet turned on the hoses. So we piled the parsnips into a plastic bag and carried them back to the stream at the back of our property for cleaning. Of course, the silly dog kept an eye on all the activity.


Now, full disclosure: I am not the cook in the family. Brian took a bunch of those parsnips, harvested an hour earlier, and sliced them lengthwise into a baking dish. He added some cream, Parmesan cheese and freshly snipped chives. (Chives are one of the earliest edibles in our garden.) Into the oven at about 350 degrees for an hour or so, or until the cream reduces. Yum! There were second helpings all around.


This outdoor storage, while unintended, worked well. Maybe we'll try it with carrots this fall.