Root Crops

Beets, carrots, parsnips and radishes are just some of the root crops that you can grow at home in your backyard. All these crops thrive in raised wide beds especially if you have a heavy clay soil. As the roots grow, they need room to expand in deep, uncompacted soil which is just what the raised wide bed provides.

Before planting prepare the soil and rake

the seedbed to smooth it and produce a fine tilth. Add some bonemeal or super-phosphate and rake it into the soil (read the packet for quantities). Sow the seeds evenly over the bed and cover with a thin layer of soil. Firm down the soil over the seeds and then water the bed. Keep the soil moist for at least a week.

When the seedlings are nearly one inch tall, start thinning to give them room to grow. As the roots start to develop, thin again to leave beet 2-3 inches apart. Carrots and parsnips should be thinned to a 3 inch spacing. The quick-growing radish which is ready to eat in 20-30 days has large seeds which should be planted two inches apart and so will need little thinning.

Another approach is to mix a small amount of radish seed in with the seeds of the larger roots and sow them together. The radishes will germinate first and act as markers for the slower crop. Many insect pests tend to be drawn to the first crop they see, so often attack the radish leaves and then ignore the crop that follows. In addition pulling the radishes will help to loosen the soil for the larger roots.

Other root crops that can be cultivated in a similar manner are salsify, turnip and rutabaga. Potatoes, which need cool conditions and so are grown chiefly in the north, and sweet potatoes which grow mainly in the south for the opposite reason, require slightly different treatments which will be covered in a separate article.

• How to grow vegetables - a beginner's guide
• How to grow vegetables - a beginner's guide (contd)
• Lettuce salad production
• Growing tomatoes - they taste best when home grown
• Growing cucumbers and squashes in your garden
• Root crops - Beets, carrots, parsnips and radishes
• Growing legume vegetables - All about beans and peas
• How to grow the cole crops - broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage