Imports of tomato and carrot seeds will be banned from a nursery of Satimex Quedlinburg, in Germany, as well as seeds for corn from a nursery of Limagrain Europe, in France, tomato seeds from a nursery of Axia Vegetable Seeds, in the Netherlands, and seeds for soybeans from a nursery of Semences Prograin, in Canada, Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement.

Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, has long aimed to become less dependent on imported seeds for a number of crops but it still relies on foreign seeds for corn, some vegetables, sugar beet and sunflower.

Last week, Russia’s agriculture ministry proposed that the government limits seed imports by setting up quotas, aiming to stimulate domestic production.

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It’s no wonder this nutritious, subtly sweet root vegetable is loved by young and old and is one of the most popular root vegetables in the world, second only to potatoes.

Carrots, whether red, purple, yellow or orange, are rich in fibre, vitamins and antioxidants that help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. Their reputation for protecting eyesight, particularly night vision, is well earned due to their high content of vitamin A and beta carotene. While these fat-soluble nutrients are easier to absorb when carrots are cooked and served with a little bit of fat, all carrots, served any way, are an excellent addition to a healthy eating plan.

If you still have carrots in the ground, you can harvest them right away or wait until the snow flies. Carrots can tolerate frost and get a touch sweeter with a little cold. However, if your carrots are splitting, extremely large or starting to turn woody, it’s best to harvest them right away. Preventing your carrots from rotting due to wet soil or being eaten by pests are other reasons to consider harvesting right away.

Storage

If you have a big bounty of carrots from the garden, storing them so they don’t rot, shrivel or sprout can be a challenge, especially if the farmhouse no longer has a root cellar. Controlling for moisture and keeping carrots cool are key factors to successful long-term storage. Ideal storage for carrots and other root vegetables has temperatures of between 1 and 5 C and humidity of 90-95 per cent.

For best results, trim green tops, brush off large bits of dirt, sort out any damaged carrots, and air-dry slightly to remove any surface moisture before moving into long-term storage. Store as indicated below for store-bought carrots or bury in a large container of sand or sawdust in a cool, dark place. Check regularly for any signs of decay.

Store-bought storage

Once in your kitchen, the general rules for storing carrots are:

• Wash only when ready to use.
• Remove any green tops before storing as they will draw moisture out of the carrots and cause them to become limp.
• Do not store carrots with apples, pears, potatoes or other produce that emit ethylene gas and may cause carrots to become bitter.
• Keep in a perforated plastic bag in the crisper of your refrigerator. Line bag with a slightly damp towel if carrots dry out. Peeled, cut or ready-to-eat carrots can be stored in the same way.
• For crisp, easy-snacking carrots, keep a handful of chopped or baby-cut peeled carrots in a dish of water. Change water daily.

Baby-cut carrots

Baby-cut carrots are a convenient and healthy snack. They are not, however, baby carrots. They are large carrots that have been cut, shaved and polished into small snack-sized carrots. To keep the processing hygienic and safe, the carrots are washed with an approved, regulated chlorine wash. This wash kills pathogens but does not leave any residue that is harmful to humans. The bits of white that can sometimes be seen on the outside of these carrots is not a residue from processing, it is simply the carrots drying out. To minimize the appearance of the white, soak carrots in water before serving.

Raw, whole carrots will last in the fridge for three to four weeks. Peeled or cut carrots will last two to three weeks. So go ahead and buy a big bag and enjoy them every day in as many different ways as you can. Here are some recipes for you to consider.

Carrot Granola

A delicious homemade granola featuring carrots, seeds and nuts with classic carrot cake spices.

• 3 cups large-flake rolled oats
• 1-1/2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raw, unsalted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
• 1 cup nuts, coarsely chopped (pecans or walnuts)
• 3 tsp. pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 F.In large bowl combine oats, carrots, seeds, nuts, and pie spice. In small bowl, mix oil, syrup, brown sugar and vanilla.Pour oil mixture into oats and stir until well distributed. On large rimmed cookie sheet, spread out mixture evenly.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring every 8-10 minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from oven and cool completely. Place in airtight container. Store sealed in pantry for several weeks. For longer storage and maximum freshness, keep in freezer. Makes 5-6 cups.

Source: gettystewart.com

Carrot and Apple Salad

A colourful and delicious salad that can easily be made ahead for a casual dinner at home, a potluck or a special occasion.

Dressing:

• 1-1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. canola oil
• 2 tsp. sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Salad:

• 4 large carrots
• 1 large apple
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Prepare dressing first so it’s ready to pour over the apple and carrot mix as soon as the apple has been grated. Prepare dressing by combining lemon juice, canola oil, sugar, salt and pepper in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously to mix well. Wash and grate carrots. Wash and grate apple leaving skin on. Combine carrots, apple, parsley, dressing and dried cranberries. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight to allow flavours to blend. Toss and adjust seasoning prior to serving. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Source: gettystewart.com

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Researchers said Monday they have sequenced the genome of the carrot, an increasingly important root crop worldwide, identifying genes responsible for traits including the vegetable’s abundance of vitamin A, an important nutrient for vision.

The genome may point to ways to improve carrots through breeding, including increasing their nutrients and making them more productive and more resistant to disease, pest and drought, the researchers said.

The vitamin A in carrots arises from their orange pigments, known as carotenoids. The study identified genes responsible for carotenoids as well as pest and disease resistance and other characteristics. In addition to eyesight, vitamin A also is important for immune function, cellular communication, healthy skin and other purposes.

The researchers sequenced the genome of a bright orange variety of the vegetable called the Nantes carrot, named for the French city. The carrot genome contained about 32,000 genes, a typical total for plants, which average around 30,000 genes, which is more than the human genome.

“Carrots are an interesting crop to work on because of their wide range of diversity. They are familiar to everyone, and generally well-regarded by consumers, but like most familiar things, people don’t necessarily know the background stories,” said University of Wisconsin horticulture professor and geneticist Phil Simon, who led the study published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Worldwide carrot consumption quadrupled between 1976 and 2013 and they now rank in the top 10 vegetable crops globally, the researchers said. In the past four decades, carrots have been bred to be more orange and more nutritious, with 50 per cent more nutrients.

The earliest record of carrots as a root crop dates from 1,100 years ago in Afghanistan, but those were yellow carrots and purple ones, not orange ones. Paintings from 16th-century Spain and Germany provide the first unmistakable evidence for orange carrots.

Knowledge of the carrot genome could lead to improvement of similar crops, from parsnips to the cassava, the researchers said. Close relatives of carrots include celery, parsley, parsnips, coriander, cilantro, dill, fennel, cumin and caraway. The common weed called Queen Anne’s Lace is a wild carrot.

The wild ancestors of carrots were white, the researchers said. While orange carrots are most commonly grown, some purple and yellow carrots are grown from the Middle East to South Asia, while some red carrots are grown in Asia.

— Reporting for Reuters by Will Dunham.

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Idzerd Boersma of S. B. Vegetable Growers near Portage la Prairie has joined Jeffries Brothers Vegetable Growers in calling on Peak to allow farmers to sell their own produce if Peak won’t. And it appears provincial government regulations allow it.

Two years ago, Peak of the Market rejected a lot of Boersma’s cooking onions because they had some green colour after lying in the sun post-harvest. However, Boersma said he was able to find markets for the onions outside Manitoba. Peak, which has a statutory marketing monopoly over commercially grown Manitoba onions, fined him for doing so.

“I lost $150,000 because of what I had to dump because of higher grade-out and stuff that was just plain rejected,” Boersma said in an interview Aug. 19.

Peak of the Market isn’t trying hard enough to market growers’ produce, according to Boersma.

“They’re working more for the buyers than the seller,” he said. “They’re order takers…

“They’ve put their standards so high they sometimes don’t have a sale and they don’t look for it very hard.”

If Peak won’t sell regulated produce then it should allow farmers to, Boersma said.

“Upper management needs to go,” he added.

The complaint is similar to that of Jeffries Brothers of Portage la Prairie. As reported in last week’s Manitoba Co-operator Dave Jeffries said Peak rejected more than half their carrots in 2014 even though, according to Jeffries, they were food quality.

Larry McIntosh, Peak of the Market’s president and chief executive officer, says Peak’s hands are tied.

“If you look at our regulations, our obligation is not to sell anything that doesn’t meet standards, which is Canada No. 1 and Canada No. 2 in the case of onions,” he said in an interview Aug. 21. “However, we will try to find them a sale in processing or anywhere we can.”

Peak of the Market, also known as the Manitoba Vegetable Producers Marketing Board, was created through legislation in 1942 to help growers get fair prices through orderly marketing. Manitoba farmers who grow more than one acre of carrots, table potatoes, cooking onions, parsnips and rutabagas, must have a production quota from Peak to do so. And all the production must be sold through Peak. Returns to farmers are pooled.

The crops can’t be marketed unless they have been graded and inspected as required by Canada Agricultural Products Standards Act and are packed and marked under that act, an official with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said in an email.

“There is the proviso that Peak is not required to market a root crop which does not meet grade specifications set out in Peak’s Quality Control Manual,” the official wrote.

However, exemptions are allowed, the email adds.

“Specifically, Peak may exempt any quality of root crops from the requirements of the regulations and may authorize a person to market root crops on a temporary basis on terms Peak specifies.”

Peak did find some markets in Ontario for Boersma, but he turned them down because “he wasn’t happy with the price,” McIntosh said.

Farmers displeased with Peak’s management can make their case to the nine-member board of directors — vegetable growers, elected by vegetable growers — which oversees Peak, McIntosh said.

If they don’t like the board’s decision they can appeal to the Manitoba Farm Products Marketing Council, which oversees Manitoba’s marketing boards, he added.

“I appreciate every grower wants to sell everything they grow,” McIntosh said. “We totally understand that and we do our best to accommodate that and get the best return for the growers. That’s why we’re here.”

The number of vegetable farmers in Manitoba has dropped from to 15 or 20 from 70 and Boersma blames Peak.

“The small guys have really been pushed out,” he said. “The root crop side… seems to be a big headache for their management and staff. They’d rather do the red potatoes with eight farmers. We look at these root crops and feel they’re not really getting fair treatment. Nobody is being encouraged to grow these crops. If you’re in and have a contract like I do, OK, we’re rolling along. But for a new guy to start something or have initiative it’s just not in the cards.”

More vegetable production would reduce Peak’s per-unit overhead cost, Boersma said.

The number of all farms has been declining for years, McIntosh countered.

Peak has had record sales the last 21 years, its website says.

“These record-breaking sales were accomplished by obtaining sales in markets across North America including California, Florida, Texas and Washington,” the site says. “These areas also produce a large supply of vegetables but they recognize the quality and taste difference that Peak of the Market vegetables provide.”

Instead of hurting small growers Peak helps them with things such as food safety as well as marketing, McIntosh said.

“I think that benefits smaller growers and medium-size growers more than large growers, because the large ones hire their own staff to do that,” he said.

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Ernie Jeffries, who operates Jeffries Brothers Vegetable Growers with his brother Roland and father Dave, wants permission to sell carrots rejected by Peak of the Market outside of the regulated system.

Jeffries said Peak’s unreasonably high grading specifications mean up to half of their crop winds up as cattle feed.

“Peak’s grades (for carrots) have been tightening up,” Jeffries said during an interview with his father Dave at their packing shed Aug. 13. “And as they tighten up we have to throw out more carrots.”

Last year about 5,000 tonnes of food-quality carrots were picked up from Jeffries Brothers by local cattle farmers, according to Dave, who served as Peak’s chairman for 20 years until he resigned in 2010. That was 50 to 60 per cent of their marketable crop from 300 acres, excluding culls, costing an estimated $500,000 in lost revenue, he added. (story continues below)

Jeffries Bros. wants to be able to sell themselves what Peak won’t.

“What we’re pushing for, but not getting anywhere on, is to be able to sell anything that Peak refuses to or can’t sell,” Ernie said. “We want to sell it because it’s the only way we’ll survive.”

Dave Jeffries and his brother Albert are the original Jeffries Brothers, starting the farm 47 years ago. Albert has retired and Dave, who was inducted this year into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame, is working towards it. There are two other commercial carrot producers in Manitoba.

Quota control

All commercial Manitoba carrot production of one acre or more requires a production quota and the crop must be marketed through Peak of the Market. According to the Jeffries, last year Peak required all carrots meet a premium grade — a higher standard than the traditional Canada No. 1 and Canada No. 2 established by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

According to the Jeffries, Peak refused to sell what they believe should have graded No. 1 or 2, leaving farmers no choice but to give it away as cattle feed.

They were also prevented from marketing small carrots that, because of their size, would not make Canada No. 1 or 2 grade, but were still food quality, Ernie said.

Not only is their own farm at risk, but the entire Manitoba carrot industry, he said.

Small carrots could be sold to roadside operators or farmers’ markets, he noted. Jeffries Brothers also wants to process some of their carrots and is applying for an exemption from Peak to do so.

Rejected loads

Growers are fined $100 for each rejected load. After Peak rejected 10 pallets of carrots, a CFIA inspector came to the farm and graded them Canada No. 2, but Peak still refused to take them, Dave Jeffries said.

“Nobody (at Peak), as far as I’m aware, has had any training through CFIA, to grade to the CFIA standards,” he added.

Peak president and chief executive officer Larry McIntosh says Jeffries Brothers’ claim that all carrots had to meet a premium grade last year is “absolutely false.” Peak had one customer requiring a premium grade, but delivery to that market was optional, McIntosh said in a telephone interview Aug. 14.

Ernie Jeffries says the premium grade was only made optional after his company complained about it.

McIntosh said if carrots are rejected, it’s because they failed to meet the CFIA requirement that carrots sold in stores or to food services must grade Canada No. 1 or 2.

The Canada No. 1 and 2 grades are set by CFIA and haven’t changed substantially in 20 years, McIntosh said.

“Last year I can tell you when Jeffries Brothers complained we were too hard on one of their loads here and we called a Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspector in… he inspected them independently and they failed Canada No. 1,” he said.

“Peak doesn’t set the standards (CFIA does),” he said.

However, Ernie Jeffries said when Peak runs short of Manitoba carrots it imports them and often they don’t appear to grade No. 1 because of irregular sizes and breakage.

Peak doesn’t sell small carrots to roadside stand operators and farmers’ markets so as not to harm small carrot growers, McIntosh said. Such sales could also undermine Peak’s sales to supermarkets, he said.

“Having said that, Jeffries Brothers, or any grower, could make a request to the (Peak) board (made up of nine farmer-elected vegetable growers) to entertain small carrots being exempted or being sold. But that request has never come forward,” McIntosh said.

Dave Jeffries said he met with the board, but felt he couldn’t fully make his case because some Peak staff were present and he claims they are part of the problem.

Besides the financial hit from feeding human-quality food to cows there’s a moral issue, Dave said.

“It’s a crime against humanity, in my mind, to throw that food away,” he said.

Ugly fruits and vegetables, which are misshapen but still fine to eat, are becoming popular in some supermarkets. But McIntosh said it’s not working out for farmers because ugly produce sells for less and it’s reducing sales of higher-priced, nicer-looking produce.

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It won t be long before we undertake one of the last vegetable gardening tasks of the growing season harvesting the carrot crop. I always leave this annual task for a bright, sunny October day so that the job becomes a pleasant afternoon spent outdoors in the garden.

My wife and I have a small-town garden and grow a short row of carrots in this garden that are used as a source of fresh carrots during the summer. They have long since been harvested and enjoyed. We are lucky enough to be able to grow some vegetables in the large farm garden of one of the brothers of my wife, and here we grow the carrots that we store for winter eating.

I am never in a hurry to harvest root vegetables in the fall. I always maintain that they store best in the ground, and light fall frosts will do no harm to the vegetables as long as the roots themselves have a good covering of soil. I therefore often hill the carrots late in the season to ensure that there will be no frost damage.

We grow two varieties of carrots: Nantes and Danvers Half Long. Both of these varieties are cylindrical and finely textured. They have sweet flesh and are good winter storage carrots.

Carrots like a rich, deeply dug fertile soil. They will grow in a heavy clay soil like we have in Minnedosa but more misshapen carrots will be produced than in sandy loam soils. We used to grow wonderfully straight carrots in the sandy loam soil of our Carberry garden. When planting carrot seed, I sprinkle seeds in a 25-cm-wide row. I find that sowing the seeds thinly produces large carrots, but we prefer that our carrots not get too huge, so we tend to sow the seeds a bit thicker.

A myriad of carrot varieties is listed in most seed catalogues and each of the varieties has a claim to fame, whether it is size, sweetness or shape. I prefer the cylindrical types as opposed to the pointed types for two reasons. They do not seem to grow quite as large and the outsides of the carrots don t have deep grooves that tend to make them hard to clean. The smoother the skin, the easier the carrots will be to clean. We ve also learned a few tricks over the years to assist in this task, so let me share them.

When we dig the carrots, we do so in small batches. Each batch is quickly topped and tailed and thrown into a pail of cold water. The water keeps the carrots firm and prevents the soil on them from drying and becoming more difficult to remove. After the pail is full of carrots, we dump them onto a wooden frame whose bottom is made of screen. A spray from the garden hose with a spray gun set to produce a strong blast of water quickly removes any soil that is still clinging to the carrots. Tumbling the carrots as they are sprayed ensures that the carrots are clean on all sides.

The carrots are allowed to sit on the screen for an hour or so to dry and then they are placed in plastic bags. After the bags are tied shut with twist ties a few holes are punctured in each bag to allow excess moisture to escape. The bags of carrots are placed into cardboard boxes and put in the coolest part of our heated garage. The temperature of the garage is maintained just above freezing. This is another reason that we postpone our carrot harvest until as late as possible we want the garage to be as cool as possible so the carrots will store well. Some people who have an extra refrigerator store the bags of carrots in the fridge, which works well. The idea is to keep the carrots as cool as possible without freezing them.

The final task of the carrot harvest is to add the tops and tails to the compost bin so that the vegetable garden can be enriched with compost and another successful carrot crop can be grown in the garden again next year.

Albert Parsons writes from Minnedosa, Manitoba

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Following in the footsteps of “guerrilla gardeners” who have been scattering flower seeds in vacant lots and roadsides in cities such as London and New York since the 1970s, the Articultores group is taking the concept a step further.

Armed with vegetable seedlings and seed bombs – seeds packed with mud for throwing into neglected urban spaces, their goal is to provide organic food for city residents.

“We want to make the city prettier, but in a different way. The zucchini plant can be as beautiful as an orchid, but it can be eaten,” said Articultores co-ordinator Judith Villamayor after watering vegetables planted next to a parking lot.

“Our goal is for people to find carrots, courgettes or quinoa when they take a stroll … and we want to show them how to care after the crops,” she said.

The Articultores, whose name roughly translates as Arty Farmers, have thrown thousands of seed bombs in and around the sprawling capital city since they started meeting in 2009.

Although providing free vegetables amid soaring food prices in Argentina lies at the heart of the group’s raison d’etre, they call their raids “performances” that aim to inspire people to shun supermarkets and go organic.

The group runs workshops in schools and members encourage residents to save fruit and vegetable seeds to grow their own, and to nurture the fledgling vegetable gardens.

“I should come back in a few weeks to see how the plants are doing … I hope someone gives them some water here,” said Sol Ulacia, a 29-year-old Mexican student, after planting corn seedlings in a rundown public garden.

Group members say getting residents to pick up the baton is their biggest challenge.

A plot in the Bohemian neighbourhood of San Telmo, where they planted quinoa, carrots and avocados a few months ago, has become strewn with garbage.

“We have to clean the litter away and encourage them to look after the plants,” Villamayor said. “It shouldn’t be strange to see a neighbour watering a public garden. Food, vegetables, that is the universal language.”

Guerrilla gardeners have traditionally operated under the cover of darkness to avoid detection by local authorities, but the Articultores say the police have never troubled them and that doing raids during daylight helps raise public awareness.

“Only once I was stopped by a policeman. He asked me whether there were marijuana seeds in the bomb. I said ‘no’ and gave him one. He gave it a sniff and said we could continue,” said artist Martin Maistrello.

“Wewanttomakethecityprettier,butinadifferentway.Thezucchini plantcanbeasbeautifulasanorchid,butitcanbeeaten.”

– JUDITH VILLAMAYOR, ARTICULTORES COORDINATOR

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The South Central Manitoba Spring Supper Committee, which fed 250 a meal of Manitobagrown foods in Morden last March, were presented the award in the rural community food champion category during the Golden Carrot Awards ceremonies at the Manitoba legislature last week.

“The really interesting part of this was having so many people working together on a big project,” says Kim Knott, clinical dietitian at Lorne Memorial in Swan Lake.

Farmers and dietitians learned from each other as they organized this special meal, she added. The idea was spearheaded by another dietitian, Michelle Turnbull, based on the 2010 Nutrition Month theme Celebrate food… from field to table.

This is the fourth year Manitobans have been presented with Golden Carrots for their behind-the-scenes work promoting healthy eating and getting good food on more Manitobans’ plates.

The awards are presented in six categories including rural, urban, northern, business, media and education.

Twelve of the 38 nominees this year were in the rural category for initiatives that included establishing their own gardens and farms to promoting community gardening and working with farmers to develop more markets for locally grown food.

Winnipeg’s North End food security co-ordinator Margo Malabar, who works with city residents’ associations and schools, earned the gold carrot in the urban community food champion category for her work to organize a Main Street farmers’ market, and start urban community gardens and community-based kitchens.

The business community food champion award this year went to chef Ben Kramer and Diversity Food Services, which supplies campus food services at the University of Winnipeg, providing affordable, healthy, and well-balanced meals, made from scratch using ingredients from Manitoba farms.

Commercial fishers Brent and Carol Ballantyne of Misipawistik Cree Nation will be presented with the northern food champion award at a special northern awards ceremony in Thompson Oct. 22. The Ballantynes were honoured for their work teaching local youth about traditional food skills and culture.

The media food champion gold carrot was presented to Grainews, Central Plains Herald andPortage Daily Graphic “Singing Gardener and Grow-It Poet” garden columnist Ted Meseyton for his lively column writing on subjects such as natural plant and pest remedies, canning and preserving tips and promotion of local farmers and gardeners.

Sharon Taylor, co-ordinator of the Manitoba Farm Mentorship Program was honoured in the education community food champion category.

Food Matters Manitoba, formerly the Manitoba Food Charter group, presents the Golden Carrots each year timed around events marked on World Food Day Oct. 16.

Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors Minister Jim Rondeau, who presented the 2010 awards, said Manitobans need innovative and diverse approaches such as those recognized at this ceremony.

Government departments can’t work in isolation on issues such as public health and nutrition, nor can government tackle this on its own, he said. Food Matters Manitoba has engaged Manitobans on these issues.

“This requires action from all components of society. I’m very pleased with the momentum that’s been created by this group.”

For a complete list of Golden Carrot nominees and past award recipients log on to: www.foodmattersmanitoba.ca.

lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

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Trying to balance the problem of supply and demand led to some interesting experiments over the years – projects made even more challenging by the fact that two of our four children detested carrots. Even friend hubby is not overly enthusiastic about them, unless they are swimming in thick, rich cream. Short of buying a cow, those kind of creamed carrots are expensive to prepare.

Convinced, nevertheless, that carrots were delicious, nutritious, and easy to grow (sometimes!) I decided to make use of them at every opportunity. In years when we had a handsome crop of carrots with broad shoulders and long, slender bodies, I simply washed them, cut about half an inch off the top of each carrot and stored them in the fridge, layered between paper towels in boxes with tightly fitted lids. Kept crisp all winter long, the carrots came in handy for soup, stew, pot roasts and the occasional cake. Even the carrot haters would eat carrot cake, giving me the chance to point out, in motherly fashion, the inconsistencies of their likes and dislikes.

In years when the carrot crop was nothing more than a collection of shrivelled orange runts, however, I had a bigger challenge before me. That’s when I discovered that carrot could be substituted for pumpkin, and nobody was the wiser. Oh, once in a while the carrot haters would surmise I was up to something and ask where I got the pumpkin for the pie, but I would just point out to them that all the neighbours grew pumpkins.

Had they not noticed? Thus diverted from the topic, they went on to enjoy their pseudo-pumpkin pie without further questions.

Each fall, however, so as not to arouse any suspicions, I had to engage in the devious undertaking of pulling and cleaning and cooking all those little carrots when nobody was around. Cleaning them became a breeze once I discovered they could be washed in the automatic washer. Then it was just a matter of cooking them, putting them through the blender and freezing the resulting “pumpkin” purée in quantities suitable for baking.

Under the circumstances, my recipe collection has acquired a disproportionate number of recipes calling for pumpkin, alias mashed carrots. Family and friends alike never suspect they are eating carrots in the sticky cinnamon rolls I so often serve with coffee. Nor do they realize that the home-canned tomato juice they rave about has been “diluted” with some of the liquid in which I boiled the little carrots.

The way I see it, if that which is cheap, available and nutritious is not too palatable in and of itself, the challenge is to utilize it in more tasty ways.

It’s called economizing.

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In other years, we’ve stashed our garden-grown carrots in sand-filled buckets in the basement. Perhaps our basement is too warm, but we’ve found this a poor storage method. Some carrots keep, but many are soon slimy throw-outs.

Wanting to make sure our “harvest moon” carrots last as long as possible this year, and recalling a reference from his bookGardening in All Four SeasonsI called this paper’s garden columnist, Minnedosabased horticulturalist, Albert Parsons, for advice.

Albert says after digging, topping and tailing their carrots, he drops them immediately into buckets of water. This keeps the soil encrusted on the roots from drying and hardening, making them much easier to wash. He then transfers the wet carrots to a wooden box with a screened bottom which he has devised for washing root crops. Sprayed with a high-pressure washer in the screen-bottomed box, the dirt washes

BRAISED CARROTS

Fresh carrots need nothing to boost their flavour when they already taste so good. Yet, it’s a shame to simply boil them when there’s so many other ways to serve them. Here’s a recipe I use often, particularly with older carrots starting to taste a bit like their storage bin.

4 or 5 carrots, scrubbed

and peeled

2 tbsp. butter

Salt and pepper

2 tsp. sugar or honey

A few springs of parsley

1 small minced

garlic clove

Julienne the carrots and add to a pan with the melted butter, sugar, pepper and salt. Add a little water to just cover the carrots. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the carrots are tender. Then raise the temperature again and boil until the liquid starts to thicken and the carrots begin to brown. Transfer to a serving dish and toss with the minced garlic and parsley. Serve immediately. off the wet carrots easily this way. The carrots are then laid out in the sunshine to dry for a couple of hours, before being stashed into plastic bags with a few holes poked through for air circulation. The bags are closed with a twist tie at the top and that’s it; the Parsons’ carrots spend the winter stacked in an extra refrigerator in their garage. Albert told me they stay crisp and good eating for months using this storage method.

“We’re eating carrots out of the fridge until the new ones come the next spring. They do lose a bit of their sweetness as they’re getting older, but they’re still good in soups and stews.”

(Likewise, crisp, sweet store-bought carrots reflect the good storage methods of this province’s large commercial growers. Good storage makes the difference between a carrot that tastes like a carrot, and one that tastes like the storage bin.)

The Parsons do keep saner hours for garden work than we do, mind you.

“We usually leave carrot digging to a nice autumn day in late September or early October,” Albert said. “It’s a wonderful thing to do when you’re surrounded by the fall colours.”

Or moonlight.

CARROT RAISIN CAKE

This is a recipe found inFamily Favourites -Extra Special Recipesproduced by the fundraising committee for Meleb’s park in the Interlake.

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 c. vegetable oil

2 c. grated carrots

2 c. chopped raisins

1 c. chopped nuts

3 eggs, beaten

3 tsp. vanilla

Sift the first six ingredients together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Pour into a 9 x 13-inch prepared pan. Bake at 350 F for 60 minutes or until done.

ROOT VEGETABLE GRATIN

Virtually all vegetables work well in gratins but root vegetables are especially good for this dish. This is a simple recipe that produces a beautiful sidedish. Don’t be put off by directions for making the white sauce to go on top. It’s easy too.

1-1/2 c. rutabagas,

peeled and sliced

1-1/2 c. turnips, peeled

and sliced

1-1/2 c. carrots, peeled

and sliced

1 medium onion,

chopped fine

1 c. bread crumbs

Oil, salt and pepperFor white sauce:

1 c. milk

1 c. whipping cream

2 onion slices

1 garlic clove, chopped

Any herbs you like,

fresh or dried

5 tbsp. butter

4 tbsp. flour

Salt and pepper

Nutmeg

To prepare vegetables:

Heat oven to 375 F and grease a casserole dish. Boil vegetables until tender. Sauté onion in butter until soft, then add to vegetables. Transfer to baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Pour prepared white sauce over top and add bread crumbs. Bake covered, until bubbling (about 45 minutes), then remove lid for last 10 minutes so crumb topping will brown.

To make white sauce:

Heat 1 cup of milk with the onion, herbs and garlic until it reaches near boiling. Set aside. In another pan, melt butter and stir in flour, then whisk in milk. Continue stirring until mixture thickens, adding nutmeg, herbs and seasonings. Pour in whipping cream.

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RECIPE SWAP

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