Carrots in a Pot again!

The carrots grown in the pot last year were so successful that we have two pots started this year. Great for deck gardens or beginner gardeners.

Below is our harvest from last year!

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) . . .

One of the lovage plants will find a new home thanks to a customer visiting the North Shore from Florida!

Lovage is a lofty perennial aromatic plant belonging to the Apiaceae family. Also in the same family are angelica, anise, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander/cilantro, cumin, dill, fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, parsley and parsnip.

This perennial herb has green leaves and greenish yellow flowers. All parts of the plant are highly perfumed. Its scent and flavor is similar to celery. The tall stems have long, flattish leaf stalks that are eaten raw or cooked as a vegetable. Leaves of lovage are commonly used for adding flavor and zing, particularly in soups

In May I added lovage and Egyptian onion to a lamb stew to improve its flavor. The cilantro family made itself known.

Up-date: Carrots in a pot

This is a great way to get children interested in gardening. Also a good idea for people with little gardening space and a love of playing in the dirt!

Early in the spring after reading an article about growing carrots in a pot these carrots were planted. The pot was left in the greenhouse where an eye could be kept on it since the seeds must be damp.

There are several web pages on how-to. Click here for one. 

I will post a picture of the harvest!

DIY Seed tape

Carrots can be a challenge to plant so this year we will be using seed tape. The strips for newspaper are one inch wide and the full length of the page. The paste is flour and water placed in dots every inch along the center of each piece. There are approximately twenty carrot seeds on each piece. That would be a good bunch of carrots for each strip! The plan is to stagger the planting so they are not all ready at once.

We will be planting Napoli for early carrots and Bolero both from Johnny's Selected Seeds for winter storage.

Turnips . . .

Our turnips have grown very well this year. They will be part of our Thanksgiving dinner!

Even the children love the "mash" made this way. The proportions can be varied depending on your family's taste.

5 lb potato, peeled, cooked and mashed
1 large turnip, peeled & cooked. Add to potato and mash.
1 lb carrots, cleaned & cooked. Add to potato& turnip. Mash.
Butter to taste
Milk - enough to make mixture smooth.
Salt & pepper
And for the more adventuresome
Add 2-4 T prepared horseradish (to prepare Horseradish)
Mix in well.

Heat & serve.

Health Benefits of Turnips: Turnips are a "starch" vegetable, but provide only one third the amount of calories as an equal amount of potatoes. Turnips provide an excellent source of vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, manganese, pantothenic acid and copper. They also offer a very good source of thiamine, potassium, niacin and magnesium. In addition, they are a good source of vitamin B6 and E, folic acid, and riboflavin.

Turnip greens are more nutrition dense than the root. The greens provide an excellent source of vitamins A, B6, C, E, folic acid, calcium, copper, fiber, and manganese.
Information from Every Nutrient.com

More on crop rotation . . .

Some garden experts recommend a 3 year crop rotation plan, others suggest 4 years.

Alliaceae (Onion Family) = Onion, garlic, leek, shallot, chive
Apiaceae (Carrot Family) = Carrot, parsnip, parsley, celery
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) = Lettuce, endive, salsify, Jerusalem artichoke
Brassicaceae (Mustard Family) = Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnip, radish, Chinese cabbage, kale, collards, rutabaga
Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family) = Beet, Swiss chard, spinach
Convolvulaceae (Bindweed Family) = Sweet potato
Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) = Cucumber, muskmelon, watermelon, squash, pumpkin, gourd
Fabaceae (Pea Family) = Garden pea, snap bean, lima bean, soybean
Malvaceae (Mallow Family) = Okra
Poaceae (Grass Family) = Sweet corn, popcorn, ornamental corn
Solanaceae (Nightshade Family) = Tomato, pepper, eggplant, potato, husk tomato