Vegetable Gardening Page 22
Parsnips take a long time to germinate and mature. Most varieties take 2 weeks or more to germinate and 100 to 120 days to produce roots. Luckily, they grow well in cold weather. Grow parsnips as you would carrots (see Chapter 6), but with one exception: When planting, place pairs of seeds in small holes that are 1/2 inch deep and spaced 1 inch apart, and then fill the holes with potting soil. Because parsnips may not germinate well, the second seed ensures a better germination rate. When the seedlings are 3 to 4 inches tall, thin them to one seedling per hole.
When growing root crops, especially parsnips, don't spread high-nitrogen fertilizer on the beds before planting. Soils rich in nitrogen produce hairy, forked roots.
Peanuts
The peanut is a crop you can grow that will taste good and amaze your kids (who may have thought that peanuts only grew in ball parks and circuses). The peanut (Arachis hypogaea), a warm-season crop, isn't really a nut; it's actually a legume similar to peas and beans. They grow where okra and sweet potatoes thrive. They like heat and a long growing season. However, even gardeners in cold areas can have some success with peanuts, provided they start early and choose short-season varieties such as ‘Early Spanish'.
Unless you grow a field of peanuts, you probably won't get enough to make a year's supply of peanut butter, but boiled in salt water, roasted, or eaten green, fresh peanuts are a tasty and healthy snack food. (I still remember when my daughter Elena and I ate almost nothing but hot, boiled peanuts on a vacation in Georgia one winter.) Some other varieties that have big pods and more seeds per pod include ‘Tennessee Red Valencia' and ‘Virginia Jumbo'. They all need 100 to 120 days of warm weather to mature.
There are actually four different types of peanuts (runner, Virginia, Spanish, and Valencia). The first two are runner types with 2 large seeds per pod. The second two are bush types with 2 to 6 seeds per pod. Growing techniques are the same for each type.
Peanuts like well-drained soil and can tolerate some drought. Plant the seeds, with the shells removed, directly in the soil after all danger of frost has passed. Space plants 1 foot apart in rows 2 to 3 feet apart. The young plant looks like a bush clover plant. Fertilize and water the plants as you would beans (see Chapter 7), but side-dress with 5-5-5 organic fertilizer when flowers appear to help with the nut formation. Yellow flowers appear within 6 weeks after planting. Hill the plants to kill weeds (see Chapter 6 for more on hilling), mulch with straw, and then watch in amazement as the fun part begins.
After the flowers wither, stalklike pegs emerge from the flowers and curve downward, eventually drilling 3 inches into the soil (see Figure 11-3). At the ends of these pegs, peanut shells containing the peanuts form. When the plants start yellowing, the peanuts growing underground are mature and ready to harvest. Pull the whole plant up and dry it in a warm, airy place out of direct sun; then crack open the peanut shells for a tasty treat. Most kids are fascinated by things that grow underground, and peanuts are pretty amazing in their own right, so watch your kids get wide-eyed at this underground treasure.
Figure 11-3: Peanut flowers produce stalklike pegs that curve underground.
Radicchio
Radicchio (Cichorum intybus) is a type of leaf chicory that can be eaten as a lettuce or allowed to form a small, red, cabbagelike head. It's the latter form that people are most familiar with in salad bars and restaurants. The heads form white veins and grow to the size of grapefruits. Radicchio has a slightly bitter, tart, and tangy flavor and adds culinary and visual pizazz to salads.
For some home gardeners, radicchio isn't the easiest crop to grow, because it often doesn't form heads. Radicchio likes it cool, and it sometimes grows best in spring and sometimes in fall, depending on the variety. The following four modern varieties more consistently form heads than older varieties: ‘Palla Rossa', ‘Chioggia Red Preco No. 1', ‘Early Treviso', and ‘Indigo Hybrid'. The latter two varieties are good fall and winter selections. If you grow these four varieties at the right time, they should form heads.
In cold-winter climates, start radicchio indoors, similar to lettuce transplants, and grow it as a spring or fall crop. In mild-winter climates, it's best grown as a fall crop. Grow radicchio as you would lettuce (see Chapter 10). Most modern varieties, including those previously mentioned, form heads on their own (without being cut back) 80 to 90 days from seeding. Harvest the heads when they're solid, like small cabbages. The heads are crunchy, colorful, and good for cooking.
If plants don't start forming heads about 50 days after setting them out in the garden, cut the plants back to within 1 inch of the ground and enjoy the lettucelike greens. The new sprouts that grow will form heads.
Radishes
If you're looking for quick satisfaction, grow radishes (Raphanus sativus). The seeds germinate within days of planting, and most varieties mature their tasty roots within 30 days. Daikon, Spanish, Chinese, and rat-tail radishes take 50 days to mature. When grown in cool weather and not stressed, radishes will have a juicy, slightly hot flavor. Of course, anyone who's grown radishes knows that if radishes are stressed by lack of water, too much heat, or competition from weeds or each other, you end up with a fire-breathing dragon that people won't tolerate. I list some popular varieties and provide tips for growing radishes in the following sections.
Varieties
Most gardeners are familiar with the spring-planted red globes or white elongated roots found in grocery stores, but exotic-looking international radishes are now showing up in specialty food stores and restaurants. These radishes require a longer season and are often planted to mature in fall or winter. (They're often called winter radishes for that reason.) Here are some you can try:
Japanese radishes called daikons can grow up to 2-foot-long white roots.
Spicy-hot Spanish black radishes look like round black balls or cylinders and can be kept in a root cellar for 6 months.
Chinese radishes look like turnips but are red, green, or white on the inside. They taste similar to the Japanese radishes.
Rat-tail radishes are grown for the spicy-tasting seed pods that form after flowering.
The following varieties work well for the beginning gardener:
For the classic red or white round radishes, try ‘Cherriette Hybrid', ‘Easter Egg II' (a mix of red and white), and ‘Amethyst' (purple skin, white flesh).
For the elongated white or red roots, try ‘French Breakfast' (a mix of red and white), ‘White Icicle', or ‘D'Avignon' (the top of the root is red and the bottom is white).
For daikons, try ‘Minowase Summer Cross #3', ‘Miyashige', and ‘April Cross'.
Some good black Spanish radish varieties are ‘Nero Tondo' (round shape) and ‘Long Black Spanish'.
Some Chinese varieties are ‘Red Meat' (green outside, red inside), ‘China Rose' (red outside and red inside), and ‘Misato Green' (green all the way through).
Growing guidelines
The round or elongated "traditional" radishes are normally planted in early spring to mature while the temperatures are still cool. Daikons can be planted in spring or summer, depending on the variety. Chinese and black radishes, however, are best planted in late summer or early fall for a fall or winter harvest. Rat-tail radishes are planted in spring.
For all types of radishes, form raised beds, fertilize, and sow both spring and fall plantings as you would carrots (see Chapter 6). The keys to success with any radish crop are loosening the soil well, weeding, thinning the plants to give the roots enough room to expand (usually 6 inches apart), keeping the plants well watered, and growing them when it's cool.
You can harvest spring-planted radish roots as soon as they start to form. Harvest daikon, Chinese, and black radishes when you need them (although they're most tender when eaten on the small side); they can withstand light frosts in the fall. Harvest rat-tail radish pods once they form.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb (Rheum rhubarbarum), like asparagus and horseradish, is an exception in the vegetable world. It's a perennial pla
nt (except in zones 8 and warmer, where it's treated as an annual), so once established, it will come back faithfully year after year. It will even spread, allowing you to dig, divide, and share plants with friends. Hopefully, you have many friends, because you'll only need a few healthy rhubarb plants to produce plenty for pies, jams, and jellies.
The part of the rhubarb plant you eat is the leaf stalk that grows from the crown of the plant. Don't eat the leaf itself, unless you want an upset stomach.
Depending on the variety, the stalks are green or red and taste sour. The most tender varieties have leaf stalks that are red all the way through, such as ‘Chipman' and ‘Valentine'. Because of its tart taste, rhubarb usually isn't eaten raw (even though I have fond memories of eating rhubarb as a child by dipping the stalks in a bowl of sugar!). It's best used as an ingredient in cooking. Can't you just smell that strawberry-rhubarb pie fresh from the oven?
Rhubarb is one of those "plant and forget" crops. It's a perennial, like asparagus, so it comes back year after year. If it has full sun, well-drained soil, water, and lots of compost and manure mixed in, it will grow like a weed. Rhubarb does best in cool climates, so gardeners in Florida and Arizona may have to rely on their northern friends for fresh rhubarb. You also can buy plants from a local garden center or online.
For best quality, harvest the leaf stalks as soon as the leaves completely unfold to a flat surface. Always leave at least two leaf stalks per plant so the plant can rejuvenate itself. If a seed stalk forms (usually from the center of the plant), cut it off to extend the leaf-stalk harvesting season. The plants die back in fall, but they reemerge in spring from the roots.
Rhubarb is easy to dig and divide. In spring, just as the new shoots are starting to emerge, dig up the whole plant with a sharp spade and divide the main crown into many 3- to 4-inch-diameter sections. Plant these sections; within 2 to 3 years, you can harvest from these new plants.
Rutabagas
Probably the only time anyone thinks of rutabagas (Brassica napus), if at all, is Thanksgiving, when they're traditionally served with turkey, stuffing, and all the trimmings. They also can be boiled, mashed, or used in hearty winter soups.
This Old World root crop is easy to grow, and any gardener can have a small patch to satisfy all her fall and winter rutabaga desires (once she knows enough about rutabagas to desire them). The flavor and growth are similar to those of turnips (which I cover later in this chapter). In fact, another name for the rutabaga is Swedish turnip, or "Swede" for short. Because the rutabaga is actually a cross between a cabbage and a turnip, if you like either of those vegetables, you may want to give rutabaga a try. The roots have either yellow or white flesh, depending on the variety.
Like turnips, rutabagas love cool weather, and you can eat the lush greens as well as the root. A few varieties to try are ‘American Purple Top' (yellow flesh), ‘Laurentian' (yellow flesh), and ‘Gilfeather' (white flesh).
Grow rutabagas the same way that you grow turnips, except rutabagas need about 100 days to mature from direct sowing; turnips mature in half that time. Rutabagas love the cold, and the roots can get as large as softballs and still remain tender. Leave them in the ground until just before the ground freezes; then harvest them as you need them. The longer rutabagas are in the ground, the sweeter they'll taste.
Shallots
If you like the taste of onions or garlic but have a hard time getting them to grow, consider growing shallots (Allium cepa). They look like small onions, but their flavor is milder than any of their allium cousins — and growing them is a snap.
Shallots are an indispensable part of many French dishes. Substitute three to four shallots for each onion in recipes. Minced, they can be sautéed in wine and herb butter or used in a béarnaise sauce (ooh-la-la). A little candlelight, a little champagne, and voilà: Shallots become romantic.
Varieties include the traditional ‘Gray' shallots with a yellow/gray skin and white, creamy-colored flesh, and red shallots such as ‘French Red' with red skin and pink flesh. Shallots are usually purchased as sets (similar to onion sets), but recently shallot seeds have become available in many varieties such as ‘Pikant' and ‘Ambition', allowing you to grow more shallots at a lower cost.
Plant shallot seed or sets as you would onion seed or sets (Chapter 6). They can be grown in spring or fall and will overwinter in all but the coldest winter climates. They require the same fertility and growing conditions as onions. About 90 days after planting in the garden, the tops will brown and die. Notice that 1 bulb sprouts 4 to 5 side bulbs around it. Separate the side bulbs and dry and store these as you would onions.
Save some of the largest shallots for a fall or spring planting, and you'll never have to buy shallots again — that is, if you can resist eating them all.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are all the rage as cut flowers in floral shops. To meet the need, breeders have created varieties with colored heads ranging from red to white and plants that are 2 feet tall to 10 feet tall. Because this book is concerned with things you eat, I focus on the giant snack varieties of sunflowers. Technically, all sunflowers can be eaten, but the snack varieties produce the largest heads containing the meatiest seeds.
Not only are the seeds good human food, but the birds love them, too. Why not store some seeds for your feathered friends this winter? Some of the best snacking varieties for both people and birds are ‘Mammoth' and ‘Grey Striped'.
This may sound obvious, but sunflowers really do like the sun. As a matter of fact, the more sun, the better. Plant seeds in well-drained soil, 10 to 18 inches apart in rows, after all danger of frost has passed. To get a jump on the season, you can start them indoors 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost date. The eating varieties tend to produce a large, yellow-petaled head on a thick stalk with large, hairy leaves. Many of these plants can be huge (sometimes as tall as 15 feet), so the plant needs adequate fertility to grow and produce the best seeds. Before planting, amend the soil with plenty of compost or manure, and side-dress monthly with a complete organic fertilizer such as 5-5-5 (see Chapter 15 for details on side-dressing). In about 80 days, the heads will open.
Sunflowers don't like company. Their roots exude a chemical into the soil that inhibits the growth of other plants in the area. Therefore, plant sunflowers in their own section, against a fence, or as a background in your garden.
Once the sunflower head opens, you'll have to be quick to get the seeds before the birds do. A simple technique is to cover the heads with a paper bag until the petals naturally wilt and the seeds mature. When you can rub off the seeds with your hand, cut off the head, remove the seeds, and dry them. Lightly roasted, sunflower seeds are a great snack food for kids and grown-ups, and you can save some raw seeds for your bird feeder.
Most people are familiar with eating sunflower seeds, but did you know that you can actually eat the unopened flower bud? To do so, cut the flower bud a few inches from the head with a sharp knife. When steamed and dipped in butter, it tastes like a globe artichoke. Who would've thunk it!
Turnips
All right, turnips (Brassica rapa) aren't exactly America's favorite vegetable, but I think they've been given a bad rap. Turnips are easy to grow, and you can eat the greens as well as the roots. If grown in cool weather, they have a slightly sweet flavor.
Like rutabagas (which I describe earlier in this chapter), turnips can be eaten boiled, mashed, or added to soups and stews. I've even eaten young roots raw like an apple. Just peel away the outer skin and crunch down. It's juicy and refreshing!
The white or white-and-purple roots are smaller than rutabagas (tennis-ball size) and mature quicker (in less than 50 days from seeding). The greens are great steamed, and they walk hand in hand with collard greens as the favorite Southern leafy crop. Some varieties to try are ‘Purple Top White Globe', ‘Shogoin', and ‘Tokyo Cross'. The latter two produce excellent, mild-tasting greens.
Turnips love cool weather. In most areas, you can
grow spring and fall crops. Here's how:
Start in spring a few weeks before your last frost date.
In early fall, wait until the hot summer weather has passed before planting.
Turnips are best directly seeded in the garden. Prepare the soil and fertilize as you would for any root crop (see Chapter 6). If you want roots, thin the young seedlings to 4 inches apart. If you're growing them for greens only, don't bother thinning them; just start clipping when the greens are 4 to 6 inches tall. Keep the plants well watered and mulched with hay or straw, which, in addition to holding in moisture and controlling weeds, helps prevent the roots from developing a strong flavor. Begin harvesting when the roots are 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Turnips can take a frost, so you can harvest right into winter until the ground freezes.
Chapter 12: Growing Berries and Herbs for an Edible Landscape
In This Chapter
Growing berries and other fruits in your edible landscape
Planting, harvesting, and preserving herbs
Discovering flowers that you can eat
In previous chapters, I mostly talk about your vegetable garden as a separate entity in the yard. That setup is great, especially if you're trying to grow lots of vegetables to reduce your food costs. However, another way to grow vegetables, and any other food crops for that matter, is to integrate them into your existing landscape. This is called edible landscaping. The concept is simple: Instead of planting an ornamental shrub, tree, or flower, why not grow a similar, attractive vegetable, fruit, or herb that can double as a food crop?
With concerns about carbon footprints, pollution, food safety, and energy consumption, many gardeners across the country are ripping out their lawns and creating edible landscapes that are both beautiful and functional. My front yard is made up of all fruits, veggies, and herbs. I love to look at it and eat from it.