Grounding During Cold Months
By Abigail Ipjian, Undergraduate Student, English & Creative Writing Major, UW Farm Education Intern Spring ’24
Step into your work boots, reader, it’s time
to get moving. Running on
a slice of buttered toast and
the rest of yesterday’s burnt cup of coffee, I want you to coax your body awake, and take in
the stagnant, but somehow fresh morning air. Let it shock your tender lungs, harden your gentle hands, dampen your sleep-stained eyes.
Take this in.
Come as you are, for this place will welcome you, it will rejoice
in your presence. I want you to look around. Not just glance here and there,
I want you to look.
See the rows of frostbitten leaves, a breath away from spoil.
Study the faces you see, and greet them. Feel the warmth of connection
cut through the chill in the air.
Tell them why you are here.
It’s time to work, reader. Not because you must, but because you want to.
This is the kind of labor you dream of, the kind that pulls all joy from the depths of your
being the same as you pull a round, rosy radish from the soil in the summertime.
This work is play.
Observe the endless array of color surrounding you, and watch for beings
beyond yourself, thriving in this space.
Approach them if you can. Locate where that alarmed call comes from, follow
the slimy trails left over decomposing leaves under your feet, look closely
at the transparent, almost glowing body
on that limb ahead, ponder the gashes created
on aged trunks surrounding the plot.
With time, you too will understand
the language of your surroundings.
But for now, you will dig, feel the soil wedge
itself into the ridges of your fingerprints to be carried with you the rest
of your day.
No matter how you scrub, it is here to stay.
Parsnips don’t really get the love they deserve. Hardy, thick root vegetables that they are, parsnips tend to take a backseat to more universally loved potatoes and carrots, despite being very similar foods. If you’re not familiar, parsnips look like bleached carrots and have a texture similar to potatoes when cooked. Taste-wise they’re quite different from the two, fragranced with a mild sweetness and distinct almost-anise peppery flavor. Because of the unusual flavor, parsnips aren’t considered as versatile as their squash-forward neighbors, but this recipe is here to prove that wrong.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 ½ ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
3 tablespoons gochujang
½ lemon, juiced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ cup white (shiso) miso
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
8 large parsnips, halved or quartered
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or braising pot over medium heat. Once hot, add mushrooms and cook until glossy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes longer.
Add the gochujang and stir well to combine. Once combined and beginning to stick to the bottom of the pot, add the lemon juice, vegetable broth, soy sauce, miso, and cumin. Whisk to combine the miso into the broth, then bring to a simmer.
Add the parsnips, submerging as much as possible. Carefully stir the parsnips to coat each one in broth, then cover the pot and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for 1 hour, or until the parsnips on top are very soft.
Once the parsnips are fork-tender, remove the lid and cook for another 30-40 minutes, until the broth is reduced to a thick sauce. To serve, ladle parsnips and mushrooms over rice, if desired, then ladle the sauce over the parsnips.
The UW Farm donates regularly to the UW Food Pantry. During peak season we also donate to nearby food banks. The links below are resources to help you or someone you know with food access.
Every year, we have the capacity to grow more food and increase our educational and research program at the UW, but not without your support. Every contribution goes to work immediately, helping us better serve students. Your support can sustain our momentum and help seed new opportunities for student internships, academic work, and future growth. Please consider making a gift to the Farm online
The Weekly Dirt is produced once a week by the University of Washington Farm, a program of the UW Botanic Gardens, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment. It is published nearly year-round for educational purposes and the majority of the content is written or contributed by students and farm staff.
This issue’s contributors:
Managing Editor: Siffre Tooth, UW Farm Food Security Lead ’23-24
Around the Farm: Abigail Ipjian, Undergraduate Student, English & Creative Writing, Education Intern Recipe of the Week: Zereen Gesmundo, Nutrition Education Intern, Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health, Art Contributing Editors: Perry Acworth, Farm Manager; Siffre Tooth, UW Farm Food Security Lead ’23-24 Photo Credits: Perry Acworth. Other photos retrieved from the internet and noted in sections
