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  The carrot varieties in the following list fall into one of the five types of carrots identified in Table 6-1, but they also have special characteristics that may make them perfect for your garden; they're flavorful, disease resistant, and easy to grow. All are good for baking. The days to maturity are from seeding in the ground until first harvest; however, early season carrot varieties are flavorful even when you harvest them before they fully mature:

  ‘Atomic Red': This Imperator-type, open-pollinated carrot features 9-inch-long roots that are red from skin to core. The color deepens and flavor becomes milder when cooked. This variety matures in 70 days.

  ‘Bolero': This hybrid, Nantes-type carrot produces 6-inch-long roots and 8135*has extra disease resistance and stores well. It matures in 72 days. ‘Yaya' is a newer hybrid Dutch variety that's sweeter and matures earlier (60 days) than ‘Bolero'.

  ‘Danvers 126': These heat-resistant, open-pollinated roots produce heavy yields of 7- to 8-inch-long carrots 70 days after planting.

  ‘Healthmaster': This hybrid, Danvers-type variety grows up to 10 inches long and contains 30 percent more vitamin A than other carrot varieties. It matures in 110 days.

  ‘Kuroda': This hybrid, 6-inch-long, Chantenay-type produces heavy yields of tender carrots that are good for juicing and storing. It matures in 79 days.

  ‘Little Finger': This open-pollinated variety is an early (65 days), 3-inch-long, smooth-skinned, small-cored baby carrot that's sweet. ‘Little Finger' carrots are great for planting in containers.

  ‘Merida': This hybrid, Nantes-type, 7- to 8-inch-long carrot can be planted in spring for fall harvest. However, it's most often grown as a fall crop and in mild-winter areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, where it can overwinter (live through the winter) and be harvested in spring. It matures in 75 days.

  ‘Parmex': This hybrid, baby-type carrot features 1 1/2-inch-diameter round roots that are harvested in 50 days. Great for planting in shallow soils.

  ‘Purple Haze': This hybrid, 10- to 12-inch-long Imperator has purple skin and an orange core. This sweet variety's purple color fades when cooked. It matures in 70 days.

  ‘Scarlet Nantes': This heirloom, Nantes-type variety has bright red-orange flesh with a small core. The 6- to 7-inch-long roots mature in 65 days.

  ‘Short 'n Sweet': This 4-inch, open-pollinated, Chantenay-type carrot grows well in heavy clay soil and containers. It matures in 68 days.

  ‘Sugarsnax': This hybrid, Imperator-type variety is as tender and sweet as a Nantes variety, yet it grows up to 9 inches long, is disease resistant, and is high in beta carotene. It matures in 68 days.

  ‘Thumbelina': This unusual hybrid, baby-type, All-America Selections winner (see Chapter 4) has a round root that's the length of a silver dollar; it's especially good for baking. It grows well in containers and in heavy clay or rocky soil. It matures in 65 days. Kids love this variety for its small size and easy-growing nature.

  ‘White Satin': This hybrid, Nantes and Imperator cross features 8-inch-long crisp, textured white roots that grow under a wide range of soil and weather conditions. It matures in 68 days.

  Onions: The Bulbs with Layers of Sweet and Pungent Goodness

  The two most important factors to consider when choosing onion (Allium cepa) varieties are flavor of the onion and location of your garden. Although most people use taste as their first criterion, the old advice about "location, location, location" has greater relevance when growing onions. Onions are particular about how much sunlight they get, forming bulbs in response to the number of daylight hours. As a result, onion varieties are classified by day length — long day, short day, or intermediate day (also known as day neutral) — as well as by taste — sweet (which are good for eating raw or freshly cooked) or pungent (which are good for storing).

  In general, short-day onions grow well in the southern United States, long-day onions grow well in the northern United States, and intermediate-day onions grow well in the in-between regions.

  See the later sidebar "What a difference a day makes!" if you really want to get into a discussion on day length and onions. If you want to avoid the whole issue, try growing some fun onion relatives, such as leeks, garlic, and shallots, which I discuss in Chapter 11.

  Choosing your onion varieties

  In the following lists of my favorite onion varieties, I distinguish between onions that are long day, short day, and intermediate day (or day neutral). Within each group are sweet and pungent varieties. These varieties are the most widely adapted (able to grow in a wide variety of geographic regions under various weather conditions) and easiest to grow. Keep in mind that pungent onions are much better for storage than sweet varieties. (You can read more about storage in Chapter 19.)

  I also indicate whether you can purchase the variety as a set (small onions that have been pregrown so that they mature faster) or as a plant (or both). (Check out the appendix for a listing of companies that specialize in onion sets and plants.) The days to maturity are from either directly seeding in the garden or setting out (placing outdoors) sets or plants. Short-day onions are generally planted in fall to grow through the winter, so they take longer to mature than other types. Long- and intermediate-day onions are usually planted in spring. All the onions have yellow skin and white flesh unless otherwise noted.

  Short-day onions include the following varieties:

  ‘Giant Red Hamburger': This open-pollinated, sweet, short-day variety features dark red skin and red-and-white flesh. It matures in 95 days from seeding and can be purchased as a plant.

  ‘Granex 33' (Vidalia): This classic hybrid sweet onion is a well-known short-day variety. It is available as a plant and is popular in the Southeast. It matures in spring, 180 days after fall seeding.

  ‘Texas Grano 1015' (Texas Supersweet): This sweet, short-day, hybrid variety can grow as large as a baseball and still remain sweet. It's also available as a plant and is popular in Texas and in the Southwest. It matures 175 days from fall seeding.

  Intermediate-day (or day-neutral) onion varieties include the following:

  ‘Candy': This sweet, hybrid, intermediate-day onion is widely adapted. It's also available as a plant. It matures 85 days after seeding.

  ‘Italian Red Torpedo': This sweet, Italian heirloom, intermediate-day, red onion forms a bottle-shaped bulb with a mild taste and pink flesh. It matures 110 days after seeding.

  ‘Superstar': This All-America Selections winning, hybrid, white-skinned, sweet onion produces a 1-pound, disease-resistant, uniform, mild-tasting bulb 109 days from planting. It's isn't good for long-term storage because of its extra sweetness.

  Long-day onion varieties include the following:

  ‘Ailsa Craig Exhibition': This yellow-skinned, open-pollinated variety is known for its sweet, 2-pound bulbs that mature 105 days after seeding. It tolerates cool weather well.

  ‘Borrettana cipollini': Cipollini are unique heirloom, Italian, flat-shaped varieties. The ‘Borrettana' variety produces 2-inch-diameter yellow sweet onions that are great braided and good caramelized and sautéed. It matures 110 days after seeding. ‘Red Marble' is a good red cipollini-type variety.

  ‘Copra': You can store this hybrid, pungent variety until spring. It matures 104 days after seeding.

  ‘Purplette': This open-pollinated, purple-skinned mini-onion is best harvested when 3 to 4 inches in diameter 60 days after seeding. It has mild, sweet pink flesh and is a good one for pickling. It also can be used as a scallion (see the next section).

  ‘Yellow Sweet Sandwich': This hybrid variety actually gets sweeter in storage and comes in a white-skinned version called ‘White Sweet Sandwich'. Both versions are available as plants. The variety matures 100 days after seeding.

  ‘Walla Walla Sweet': This sweet, hybrid variety has light yellow flesh and good cold tolerance. It's available as a plant and is popular in the Northwest. It matures 115 days after seeding.

  ‘Yellow Stuttgarter': This pungent, standard, open-pollinated storag
e variety often is sold as a set. It matures in about 90 days from a set and 120 days after seeding.

  Looking at scallions and perennial onions

  You may have run across some other onion types in restaurants or produce markets. For example, scallions (also called bunching onions, spring onions, or green onions) are picked for their delicate, juicy, green tops before they form bulbs. Scallions take up less space in your garden than regular onions because you can plant them closer together, and they can give you a quick crop when planted in spring or fall. Growing scallions is a good way for novice onion growers to start.

  Any onion variety grown from a seed can be harvested as a scallion, but here a few varieties that are especially widely adapted as scallions:

  ‘Evergreen Hardy White' (Allium fistulosum): This hardy, white-stalked variety is a great one for cold climates (USDA zone 5), and it can overwinter if protected and used as a perennial. It matures 65 days after seeding.

  ‘Red Beard' (Allium fistulosum): This tender variety has unique coloring: a red stem with a white tip and green leaves. It matures 45 days after seeding.

  ‘White Spear': This heat-resistant scallion features blue-green leaves and thick white stems. Good for warm climates. It matures 65 days after seeding.

  Multiplier, or perennial, onions come back year after year and reproduce easily. Here are the two main types:

  Egyptian top-set onions (also known as walking or tree onions): These onions reproduce by forming clusters of onion sets on the tips of their growing stalks, as shown in Figure 6-1. As the weight pulls the stalks down, the clusters root wherever they land, making the onions look like they're walking slowly across your garden. During the winter months, Egyptian top-set onions primarily are eaten as scallions, but the top-sets make good, small, sweet onions when you pick them in summer. They're also very cold hardy.

  Potato onions: These onions form a main onion in summer from a fall planting. They're hardy to USDA zone 4 and produce many smaller sets that you can replant after summer harvest to produce more onions the following year.

  What a difference a day makes!

  The long-day, short-day, intermediate-day onion issue can get confusing. Short-day onions form bulbs when they receive 11 to 12 hours of daylight, while long-day onions form with 14 to 16 hours of daylight. Generally, gardeners north of 35 degree latitude (a line running from northern North Carolina through Oklahoma and Arizona to central California) grow long-day onions because their summer days are long enough to initiate bulb formation. Gardeners south of that line grow short-day onions because they're closer to the equator and their day lengths are pretty steady at 12 hours. Gardeners in the South also have the luxury of planting short-day onions in fall, overwintering them (because of their mild winters), and harvesting in late spring.

  Northern gardeners need to plant long-day onions in spring for a summer harvest. If you were to plant long-day onions, such as the ‘Copra' variety, in the South, they'd never receive enough daylight hours to bulb up. Likewise, short-day onions, such as the famous ‘Vidalia' onions, grown in spring in the North, would bulb up quickly while the plants were small because they'd receive the necessary 12 hours of daylight early in the season. The end result would be small bulbs.

  Modern plant breeders have made this whole task a bit easier by introducing intermediate-day varieties that aren't as dependent on certain amounts of daylight hours to form bulbs. These varieties like intermediate lengths of daylight (12 to 14 hours) and grow best in hardiness zones 5 through 8 (see the appendix for more about zones).

  Figure 6-1: An Egyptian top-set onion plant.

  Potatoes: No Longer a Boring Spud

  If I had to vote on the most underrated vegetable in the world, I would choose the potato (Solanum tuberosum). Potatoes have a reputation for being common, widely available, inexpensive, and just plain brown and boring. Why bother growing them? Well, first of all, the flavor and texture of fresh potatoes dug from the soil is much better than the bagged spuds that sit on grocery-store shelves for weeks. It's also fun to grow the many different varieties, including novelty potatoes such as purple-, red-, or yellow-fleshed varieties. You'll surely astound your family and dinner guests with these not-so-plain potatoes.

  Potatoes are one of the most foolproof crops to grow. Start planting early, while the weather is still cool, by placing a piece of the tuber (called a seed potato) in a furrow, or trench. After the potatoes start growing, if you hill them (push soil around the plants), water them, and keep the bugs away, you're almost guaranteed some great tubers. I explain more about planting potatoes and provide tips on growing sweet potatoes, a special kind of root crop, later in this chapter.

  Potatoes classified

  Potato varieties usually are classified as early-, mid-, and late-season from the time you plant the seed potato to harvest. If you have a short growing season, grow early-season plants. If you have a longer growing season, you'll be safe with the late-season plants. If you want to have a constant supply of potatoes all summer, grow a few of each. Table 6-2 shows the approximate number of days to maturity for each category.

  Selecting a few potato varieties

  So many potato varieties are available that narrowing the field is often difficult. However, you may want to try some of my favorites, which I describe in the following list. I've included some fingerling varieties that are the latest rage; they produce an abundance of small, fingerlike tubers that are great roasted, fried, or steamed. Here are my favorite potato varieties in terms of flavor, color, and ease of growing:

  ‘All Blue': This mid- to late-season spud has blue skin and flesh. It has a mealy texture, so it's best as a mashed potato. Yes, blue mashed potatoes! You also can grow a similar ‘All Red' (also known as ‘Cranberry Red') variety that has red skin on the outside and pink flesh on the inside. Combined with ‘All Blue' potatoes and a white variety, you can create a red, white, and blue mashed potato extravaganza!

  ‘Butte': This late-season variety is the classic Idaho baking potato. It's a great russetted (has rough, brown-colored skin) baking variety that features 20 percent more protein and 58 percent more vitamin C than other varieties. It's also tolerant of scab disease and late blight. (See the later section "Keeping Your Root Crops Healthy and Pest-Free" for more on these problems.)

  ‘Caribe': This early, lavender-skinned, white-fleshed variety produces large tubers. A great masher.

  ‘Kennebec': This all-purpose midseason variety with white skin and flesh is dependable, resists disease, and is good for almost any use.

  ‘King Harry': This early-season, gold-skinned and white-fleshed variety is unique for its hairy leaves that reportedly ward off insects, such as Colorado potato beetles, leafhoppers, and flea beetles (see Chapter 17). Oh, and the spuds taste great, too!

  ‘Red Norland': This early variety has red skin and white flesh. Harvested early when plants are just flowering, this variety is commonly sold in markets as a new red potato. It tastes best boiled or mashed.

  ‘Rose Finn Apple': This late-maturing fingerling variety features rose-colored skin and yellow flesh. It has a firm, moist texture and is great baked or boiled.

  ‘Russian Banana': This late-season, fingerling-type variety has a banana shape with a waxy yellow skin and flesh. You'll find it great for roasting and boiling.

  ‘Superior': This early-season tuber has buff-colored skin and white flesh. It's scab disease-resistant, grows under a wide range of conditions, and stores for a long time. A keeper!

  ‘Viking Purple': This midseason, purple-skinned, white-fleshed variety can endure dry weather and stores well. It tastes great boiled or mashed.

  ‘Yukon Gold': This very early variety with yellow skin and flesh produces high yields and is drought tolerant. It's a great keeper; in fact, I've been known to still be eating this variety from storage 8 months after harvest. This moist-fleshed potato is best in salads or boiled. Plus it makes a great chip!

  Even though most potatoes are grown from seed po
tatoes, you can grow potatoes from seeds just as you do with tomatoes and peppers. One hybrid, late-maturity, true-seed variety that's currently available is called ‘Catalina' (which is very similar to ‘Kennebec'). For best results, start seeds indoors a month before planting. You grow your crop the same way that you grow other potatoes. Growing potatoes from seeds is a bit trickier but less expensive than planting seed potatoes, and you reduce the chance of passing on any tuber-borne diseases to your new crop. (See the later section "Keeping Your Root Crops Healthy and Pest-Free" for more on potato diseases.)

  Growing and Gathering Root Crops

  Root crops are easy to grow if you have good soil, water, and proper spacing. The mystery of root crops is that you can't see the reward until you dig them up. But that's half the fun of growing them.

  General guidelines for all your root crops

  The keys to growing great root crops are preparing the soil bed well and giving the plants room to grow. You also need to keep the crops clear of weeds and make sure they have enough water. Here are further details on each of these important points:

  All root crops like well-drained, loose, fertile soil. And with the exception of potatoes, which grow best in hills (as you find out later in this chapter), root crops grow best in raised beds (see Chapter 3 for more on these special beds). They also can grow if you have a gardening spot that gets only 4 to 6 hours of direct sun a day. Try some carrots and onions in that patch.

  To prepare the soil, add a 3- to 4-inch layer of compost or manure at least 2 to 3 months before you're ready to plant. If you wait until just before planting to add fresh compost or manure, you're likely to get poor growth. Why? Too much nitrogen fertilizer on carrots and potatoes in spring promotes foliage growth but not good tuber and root formation. Instead, root crops enjoy phosphorous, which promotes root growth, so perform a soil test (see Chapter 14), and based on the results, add bone meal or rock phosphate fertilizer before planting to keep your roots happy.