From Barth Anderson at Fair Food Fight, used with permission.
In a PloS Biology study released Tuesday and led by geneticist Patricia Balaresque of England's University of Leicester, researchers examined modern European men's genes to see how the continent was settled.
In particular, researchers were searching for clues as to how farming spread across Europe. When you look at the spread of agriculture out of the Fertile Crescent in the New Stone Age, the relative swiftness of it (just a few thousand years) makes you wonder if it was that new-fangled farming craz taking Neolithic Europe by storm, or if it was peoplewiththe technology that were migrating steadily and quickly out of Syria and Iraq. According to the genetic record, it's the latter.
"The incoming farming populations expand," Jobling [the study's senio author] says. Rather than gene differences clustering around some areas and not appearing in others — to be expected if early farmers had traded technology instead of migrating — the pattern of gene differences depicts a smooth march of male farmers' genes across Europe.
The genetic record apparently also shows that European mothers were probably not women from the same source locale of the population explosion (the "Near East"). Via Scientific American blog:
How could these early European ancestors come from such different groups? "To us, this suggests a reproductive advantage for farming males over indigenous hunter-gatherer males during the switch from hunting and gathering to farming," Balaresque said. "Maybe, back then, it was just sexier to be a farmer."
Weather: The weather suddenly turned mild. I think it takes all of the excitement out of winter to go through weeks without snow and subzero weather. If I wanted weather like that, I wouldn’t live in the Midwest. We need another blizzard!
What We Did: Lots and lots of planning. Continuing to wash roots.
Comings and Goings: Chris presented two workshops at the Minnesota Organic Conference in St. Cloud last week. Bryan Markhart joined us for a winter stint on break from BenningtonCollege in Vermont; he’s living at the farm and helping out with household and childcare responsibilities, as well as cleaning roots and weeding rosemary.
When you get this box home, the squash, and onions should be left in a cool, dry place. Bag up the roots and the cabbage, and put them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
The Rock Spring Farm Blog, www.eatbetternews.com, has several years’ worth of recipes and vegetable descriptions. You can visit there any time to search for recipes and tips on how to use your CSA share produce.
Carrots
Cipollini Onions – Use these flat Italian Heirlooms where you want to feature the onion flavor. They’ve got a much broader flavor note than regular onions. You can also use them where you would use a regular onion.
Rutabaga – Purple top, yellow bottoms
Turnips – Purple top, white bottoms
Celeriac
Black Spanish Winter Radish – Spicy, and very nice paired with cheddar cheese and dark beer.
Heart of Gold Squash
Red Cabbage
Gold Beets – Like regular beets, but with a sweeter flavor and less earthiness.
Spinach – From the greenhouses. We had some freezing damage in here after the extreme cold of December and January, so we worked hard to get the best leaves.
Rosemary – from the heated greenhouse, where we overwinter this crop.
Roasted Turnips and Carrots
1/2 lb carrots
1 lb turnips
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme (optional)
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 400. Prepare the carrots and turnips so that they are about the same size and shape, by cutting the turnips lengthwise into halves or quarters. Toss with olive oil and thyme, and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread evenly in a baking pan in a single layer, and roast, uncovered, for 20 to 45 minutes, stirring and tossing periodically until the vegetables are cooked through.
Blanch celeriac in boiling water for 2 minutes; dunk in cold water to stop cooking, then drain. Place in a bowl and add oil and vinegar. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Refrigerate, covered, for at least two hours. Crush garlic into a paste and combine with the mayonnaise and mustard, and add this mixture to the celeriac and stir well just before serving.
Wilted Cabbage Salad
2 lb savoy cabbage, washed and shredded
4 - 5 strips bacon, cooked crisp
salt and pepper
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil
Put cabbage in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Place cabbage in a dry bowl and season with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Mix in the olive oil (or substitute bacon fat). Crumble bacon over warm salad.
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