Re Rustica

When we're looking for summer, we head down the mountain.  When we look for winter, we head up hill.  The increase in altitude leads to a decrease in temperature - there is less atmosphere to hold in heat!  In Squaw Valley, the difference is pronounced.  We own and rent land in the area, and our rental field - just down the street - is more than 1000 feet lower!  It's been spring there for about a month, and now it is just starting to be spring up on top of the hill.  Down in the valley, it is more than 2300 feet lower than it is at our camp on top of the mountain.  It's mid summer there!

Changes in altitude are one thing, but changes in latitude are another.  Going north means going colder, and going south means getting warmer (until you get to the equator, that is).

It is important to stagger fields north and south, uphill and down hill if you want to supply similar foods all year long.  Spring has come and gone in the Valley, but is still coming up in the hills.  On the plate, it's spring, spring, spring!  Summer is also easily found.  So is winter!

The nomadic farmer is not a new thing under the sun.  The Egyptians invented the technique, boating up and down the Nile, hiking up and down the hills.  The Egyptians even went so far as to bring their bees from pasture to pasture, increasing their honey production: some farms today still do this today, trucking bees from Colorado's Western Slope to California's Central Valley with the change in seasons.

Back in ancient days, bee spills would happen as much as in modern days.  But then, there's an argument for sedentary farming.

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Altitude matters to crops in many ways. The higher elevations are cooler and grow several months behind schedule of the valleys: a farm that grows both at several hundred feet elevation and at the more than 3000 feet elevation of Squaw Valley can have winter and summer at the same time!

 

Cool nights are characteristic of high altitudes. With less atmosphere to hold in the heat, the crops chill somewhat. This increases sugar deposition in vegetables, making high altitude vegetables just slightly more sweet than low altitude vegetables.

Low altitudes are warmer longer and can yield more fruit longer. Fruit can ripen longer at lower altitudes, making low altitude fruit sweeter than high altitude fruit.

Mountain soils are different than valley soils, too, but this matters less to the flavor of fruits and grains and more to the flavor of vegetables. Which is better? It’s hard to say: some people prefer one to the other, other people like it the other way around. We like to compare it to water: some springs and wells taste better than others, depending on the minerals in the soil. This is why some people prefer the spring and well water of one mountain to another.

If you are curious, let us show you the difference! This week, one of our favorite foods - miner’s lettuce - comes into season and we are glad to show you the difference of high altitude versus low altitude with free samples.

We drive up and down hill all day, burning clean biofuel, spreading the smell of fresh produce and rotten french fries everywhere. Uphill is different than downhill for produce!

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