My Lovely Wife sent me outside to pick some fresh vegetables. -- in January -- for some more Beets, Parsnips and Rutabagas. Off I went with knee pads and a pail to my two root crop beds. All of these, as well as my carrots, live under a one foot thick blanket of fall leaves.
The Parsnips are ‘Albion’ and a bit oversized this last year, some weighing one pound each. I hope to change my variety this next year to something bred even more for over winter storage in the ground.
The Beets are ‘Winterkeeper’ and a bit variable in size – mostly due to my uneven, not ruthless enough, thinning. But they are just as sweet as the parsnips. When roasted they’re a lot like candy.
The Rutabagas are “Helinor’ and since they’re completely above ground (except for their roots), they get more leaves piled on top of and around them to protect them from the frost. The beauty of home-grown rutabagas is they stay mild tasting, unlike the store-bought ones.
I lifted all these with my bare hands – no tools needed to dig with. Sprayed clean with the garden hose and tops trimmed off with a sharp knife, these ones get bagged and kept in the fridge for a week or two until we need some more. These ‘root crops’ keep well in the ground until April or even early May. And when they taste so much Fresher than store-bought, they’re much more nutritious as well.
Happy Gardening.
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