The South Marysburgh Mirror October 2022 / 15 GREEN INVESTMENT — old style - By Robin Reily Rooting for the Underdug Stock market analysts look for com- panies with strong fundamentals that are currently undervalued. Explosive new start-ups are bal- anced with more dependable securi- ties. The vegetable equivalent of these securities are those reliable, well-established, resilient and yet not in the spot-light. At the recent Milford Fair | was scanning the list of potentially prize-winning vegetables to see which mighty stalwarts have been left out of the competi- tion. While no Mexican Jumping Beans lept out at me | did notice the absence of the humble turnip. Let me make the case for its future inclusion. Turnips are mem- bers of the largest family of vegetables...the Brassicas (e.g., cab- bage, radish, mustard, broccoli). The turnip group has three nota- ble members...the large, yellow-fleshed Rutabaga, the medium- sized purple Turnip, and the small white Japanese Hukurei. Nearby are their close cousins Rapini, Bok Choi and Kohlrabi (aka German Turnip). The name has a Latin origin—‘turn’ referring to round as we still use in ‘wood-turning’ and ‘neep’ meaning ‘plant’ thus tur- nip or ‘round plant’. Perhaps their dense, round quality inspired our neighbours across the Big Lake (Ithica, New York) to hold their an- nual Rutabaga Curling Festival in late fall. Members of the turnip group have been dated to the time of dinosaurs and are commonly associated with early cave-dwelling people. | expect when the Loyalists planted their first farms, they included many turnips. Why? Well unlike most vegetables both the nutritious leaves and the dense roots can be eaten. The leaves sprout in cold spring soil and can still be harvested into December. The root can be eaten in summer or left in the ground throughout the winter to send up fresh leaves following snowmelt...not some- thing we currently do but no doubt appreciated by many a starving pioneer. Those anticipating a long winter would store turnips in leaves or sawdust. Or they could be preserved by dipping in wax... imagine a family after a long harvest day together waxing eloquent- ly. Turnips have a tangy, sometimes slightly bitter taste after pro- longed storage but a milder flavour when fresh. Those with a deli- cate pallet might want to start by growing the sweeter Hukurei type or wait until late fall to sample a warm turnip pie. The early Celts had the Hallowe’en tradition of carving faces into large turnips, a practice that was later replaced with the introduc- tion of the more easily carved New World vegetable, the pumpkin. A few years ago, | was in Wales and enjoyed a coal miner’s heritage staple. Welsh coal miners would lunch upon a mixture of root vege- tables (turnips, carrots and potatoes) enclosed within a pasta shell. The crimped pastry edge could be held by coal-dusted fingers during a brief lunch break in the dark tun- nels. Rutabaga, the type most suited to cold climates (hence its other name, Swede Turnip) thrives in Fin- land, Russia and Cana- da. They won’t survive in more southern re- gions as the roots de- cay in the warmer soils. Today we grow complacent on harvests of Eggplant and Zucchi- ni, forgetting our ‘roots’...our noses ‘turned-up’ at more pedestri- an fare. While your garden portfolio should include such highfliers as Red Peppers and Yellow Tomatoes, your green investment should also stock northern stalwarts for leaner times. Fall fairs recall an earlier heritage, one during which the turnip was likely prominent. Bird Observatory Welcoming Owls (Continued from page 12) Visitors can come to the Observatory to watch passerine banding daily from 8 a.m. to noon, weather permitting. (Passerines covers a category of birds that perch, including song- birds, such as warblers.) The most notable capture during the first six weeks of moni- toring was an Olive-sided Flycatcher. This flycatcher is an un- common bird at PEPtB On September 20, migration monitoring began for owls— specifically Northern Saw-whet Owls. This bird is the smallest owl in eastern North America, often weighing less than 100 grams, but what these adorable owls lack in size they make up for in personality. Since all raptors, including owls, prefer not to cross large bod- ies of water during migration, many fly east from Point Petre to Prince Edward Point before crossing Lake Ontario on the islands at its east end. This October, PEPtBO offers specific dates to view owl band- ing (with appropriate rain dates), beginning at 7:30 p.m., weath- er permitting. (Some nights may see more owls than others, giv- en how weather and winds can affect migration patterns.) All events require pre-registration, and reservations are ona first come, first served basis. For public viewings and members nights, space is limited to 20 people per event. October 4, October 21 — Public viewings @ $30.00 per person October 7, October 11 - Private nights @ $500, with space | for up to 6 people. Register: h Lh