The Everything Grow Your Own Vegetables Book

Your Complete Guide to planting, tending, and harvesting vegetables

Catherine Abbott

• Publisher: Everything
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781440500145
• Topic: Biowissenschaften
• Subtopic: Gartenbau

Vine-ripened tomatoes. Succulent squash. Plump cucumbers.Growing vegetables is a rewarding and cost-effective way to eat better for less. Yet many don't know where to start. Author and farmer Catherine Abbott answers questions like:

• What is the best way to maximize my garden space?
• How do I get started growing food to sustain my family?
• Can I grow vegetables inside my house?
• How can I tell if my vegetables are primed for eating?
• Will I really save money by growing my own?

You will find affordable tips on how to plant and harvest more than thirty common vegetables, from spinach and eggplant to corn and beans. Abbott's expertise shines on planting, fertilizing, watering, weeding, and troubleshooting. This book has everything you need to grow fresh, delicious veggies in any climate, any time of year!

CHAPTER 11
The Root Veggies

Root vegetables are grown for their edible roots. The veggies in this chapter are all easy to grow and have similar growing needs and soil conditions. They need a well-prepared garden bed with a light soil to grow their best. Here you'll find easy tips on how to grow some common root vegetables including beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes, and rutabagas. We will also discuss growing garlic, leeks, and onions, which are grown mainly for their roots but have some distinctive characteristics of their own.

Beets

Beets are a love or hate vegetable; either you love them or you have no desire to eat them at all. They are great addition to any home garden because they are easy to grow, have a long harvest, take up a small amount of space in your garden, and can be stored. They have more than one edible part and can be eaten raw or cooked, so they are a very versatile vegetable. The young leaves are used with other baby greens in popular salad mixes. The mature leaves can be steamed for a nutritious side dish to add to any meal. The roots can be harvested as sweet and tender baby beets or they can be left to grow to maturity to be harvested as you need them all summer and fall.

The many variety of beets give you more options than just a round red beet. You can buy seeds that will produce elongated roots, which have a milder taste. Beets can now be grown in a multitude of colors. There are white, yellow, orange, and striped varieties.

Peeling beets can be messy and can stain your hands and cooking area, so leave the peel on. Once the beets are cooked, just plunge them into ice-cold water and the skins will just slip off. If you do get stains on your fingers, rub them with a fresh lemon and the red juice will easily wash off.

Beets like a fairly rich soil that is free of rocks and debris. Add in aged animal manure and lime if needed when preparing your garden bed. Make sure your bed is well prepared with at least a foot of loose tilled soil for the roots to grow. Remove any lumps, rocks, or sticks from the soil so they don't impede the growth of the root. Beets are usually direct seeded to your garden bed; however, they are slow to germinate, so mark the bed where they are planted. The seed can produce more than one plant; they will need to be thinned so there is only one plant for every three to four inches of garden soil as the seedlings start to grow.

QUICK TIPS FOR GROWING BEETS

Botanical name	Chenopodiaceae (goose foot family).
Edible parts	Roots and tops.
Location	Sunny, open area.
Best soil	Fertile, well-drained soil, clean bed; pH 6.0–6.8.
When to plant	Sow April to mid-July for a continuous harvest.
How to plant	Sow seeds ½ inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows spaced 16 to 24 inches apart. Keep the soil moist until seeds have germinated; this can take from 14 to 21 days, so you need to be patient. Once the seedlings are a couple inches high, thin them so there is only 1 plant for every 3 inches of garden soil.
How much to plant	10 to 20 feet per person.
Companion plants	Cabbage has a positive effect on beets, so try to plant them near each other. Avoid planting beets near beans, because they can have a negative effect.
Weeding	Keep well weeded, especially when plants are small.
Watering	The soil needs to be kept moist when seeds are first planted. Once plants have sprouted, water regularly. If you are using an overhead sprinkler, make sure you leave it on long enough for the water to penetrate several inches into the soil in order to reach the roots.
Fertilizing	Dig in compost or aged animal manure and a balanced fertilizer when preparing the beds.
Pests and diseases	Leaf miners, beet web worms, flea beetles, wireworms, and leaf spot can affect your beet plants.
When to harvest	Beets mature in 45 to 65 days. You can start cutting the young leaves for salad when they are about 3 inches high. Start harvesting the ...