Recycle net bags to protect fruit and vegetables
You know those stretchy plastic netted bags you can sometimes find as packaging around avocados, potatoes, frozen turkeys and other offerings at the grocery store? Don’t just throw them away. They can be useful in the garden.
Try using small net bags to protect ripening fruit or nuts on small fruit trees. Or bag a growing squash or melon while small. A young watermelon or squash may grow large enough to fill a turkey bag. And in the meantime, and those destructive gnawing critters seem to lose interest in your edible prize growing in the bag, leaving it alone to reach maturity.
For some reason, even rabbits and mice seem to be turned away from the plastic netting yet the bags are fine enough to create no impression even on soft growth while allowing daylight full access to the ripening fruits and vegetables. So the next time you buy something in a plastic mesh bag, don’t throw the bag away. You can recycle net bags and protect your fruit and vegetables at the same time. This tip works well on trees, in raised vegetable beds and even on ground-level beds.
Quick tips on growing unusual root crops
Root crops are vegetables that have adapted their roots into a swollen form that are good for eating fresh or cooking. We are familiar with carrots, beets and radishes as common root vegetables. But there are many more interesting root vegetables that are easy to grow in most home gardens.
Salsify is known as the oyster plant and has white, carrot-like roots with a slightly oyster-like flavor. These plants grow much like carrots with similar needs. Give them good soil with eight to ten inches clearance below for roots to stretch unhindered. They like heat and will grow well even where summers are hot.
Celeriac is a big, rough-looking globe of a root crop that is related to celery and carries a distinct celery flavor. It needs no special treatment and can grow up to six inches in diameter. Like most root crops, it is more tender if it isn’t allowed to grow too big. It is tasty in soups and stews and can be stored in a cool dry place for use long after it is dug at the end of the summer.
Parsnips have been grown for centuries and have a slightly sweet flavor to their roots. Another crop that isn’t fussy and can even tolerate a light frost, grow parsnips for adding to stews or cooking up as a side dish. Like other root crops, the parsnip is happy in a rich soil with regular water and plenty of sunshine.
Quick tips on growing radishes
Radishes are some of the fastest-growing vegetables you can plant. That makes them ideal for marking out rows where you seed other, slow-germinating vegetables. They also make an ideal choice for a child’s garden. The radish is the quickest and easiest root crop you can grow, so don’t let them stay in the garden too long. Harvest them as soon as they are big enough to be eaten.
There are a wide assortment of radishes from long to short, in reds, whites, blacks, pinks and bi-colors, some hot and some mild. If you can’t decide which you want to grow, try some of the seed packets that give you an assortment or buy several packages of different kinds to find out which you like best.
Like most root crops, radishes are not fond of being transplanted. Many grow small enough that they won’t stunt their neighbors if planted closely, but try not to seed them too thickly. They often germinate in as little as a week under good conditions. Give them full sun, a rich soil and plenty of water.
Pull radishes as they are needed. They are good raw in salads, make colorful garnishes and some people even like them cooked.
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