Time for Winter Carrots, Beets and Other Rooty Things

It's amazing how little time I suddenly have for the blog now that the sun is out (and so is school). More time in the garden, on the beach, at the lake. (And, sadly, at my desk.) I'll do my best to keep it up, but please remember I'd love to see photos and hear stories of YOUR gardens, too. This is for all you wet coast gardeners out there.

If you're going to plant a winter garden, it's time to get more carrots, beets, turnips and other root veggies in. We've started to eat carrots out of our garden, but I started them very early (and under glass). Remember to plant them in well-drained soil. (And if it starts to deluge again, I'd suggest covering them with plastic or reemay to keep the rain off the seeds. The seeds don't like to be swamped. Thanks Trina, for that gardening tip.)

As for the root crop pests — carrot rust fly and cabbage root maggot — here's what Linda Gilkeson suggests:

Take steps to protect this late crop of carrots from carrot rust fly and turnips from cabbage root maggot (they are similar insects, but attack different crops). The late generation of these root pests can attack as late as September and once in the roots, the larvae keep right on boring all winter. Cover the beds before the seedlings come up with floating row covers or use 1-metre-high window screen fence around the bed (most of the adult insects fly below 1 metre). Support the fence on stakes with the bottom edge buried in the soil and allow the top 20 cm to flop outward away from the crop to make an overhang. So the flies zipping along close to the ground hit the fence, fly up, do a loop under the overhang and find they are heading the other way. And of course, make sure there were no carrot family crops or weeds (Queen Anne's lace) in the carrot bed or any cabbage family plants in the turnip bed, before you plant the winter crop. Any root maggots in the soil from a previous crop would be trapped inside the cover or fence with your new crop.