- Author: Denise Seghesio Levine
I was surprised to learn on the USDA website that the earliest references to carrots were to purple and yellow types found in Afghanistan between 900 AD and 1000 AD. By the 1300s, these varieties had made their way to Europe and China. And by the 1700s, white carrots were being grown in Europe. Orange carrots finally made an appearance around this time.
Oil paintings from the Netherlands during this period depict orange and white carrots in still lifes of kitchen scenes. I'll be looking for them on my next museum visit.
Today Turkey, India and China grow purple, yellow and red carrots, while in the Middle East people prefer mostly purple and yellow types. White carrots are largely used for livestock feed in Europe, with orange carrots now the norm in most of the rest of the world.
Many of us have been told to “eat your carrots” at least once, and it seems to be good advice.
Carrots provide 30 percent of the vitamin A in the American diet, and they are a low-calorie source of fiber and potassium. According to the USDA, Americans eat an average of 11 pounds per year, so some of us must be paying attention.
With such colorful choices, knowing the subtle differences between them will add to your carrot sophistication.
White carrots like ‘Snow White contribute valuable fiber, but their lack of color signals fewer micronutrients. The ubiquitous orange carrot provides beta and alpha carotenes that protect our eyes and immune systems.
The striking ‘Cosmic Purple' carrot with its heart of gold provides the nutritional benefit of anthocyanin. According to the USDA, this micronutrient helps prevent heart disease and stroke with an antioxidant effect that protects against harmful free radicals.
Sunny yellow carrots like ‘Solar Yellow' and ‘Yellow Sun' boast xanthophylls, the same pigments responsible for the color in fall leaves. These pigments are beneficial in the fight against macular degeneration and cancer prevention. Red carrots like ‘Atomic Red' contain lycopene, the same pigment that makes tomatoes red.
Carrots are a $300 million crop in the U.S., with half of all production in California. Clearly we can grow carrots in this state.
According to the USDA, it takes just over one square yard to produce enough carotene-rich carrots to supply all the vitamin A an adult needs for a year. That's a good reason to sow some carrots.
Find a sunny spot in your garden for carrots, and prepare the soil well. Most carrot varieties are long and straight;if you are digging beds, aim for at least 18 inches of loose soil. Round carrots are a good choice if your beds can't be deep.
Some carrot varieties do better in clay soil than others, but all prefer a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Carrot seed germinates best in warm soil. Carrots can tolerate some light shade, which means you can interplant with other crops. Read the seed packet for more detail.
Scatter carrot seed on the surface of the prepared bed and rake it in gently. Some seed packets recommend surface sowing with no soil cover, while others recommend covering the tiny seeds with no more than a quarter-inch of soil. Some gardeners prefer to grow in rows, sowing a few seeds every inch with rows 16 to 18 inches apart; others prefer to broadcast seeds in blocks.
Toss a few radish seeds in the same row or block to see green pop up a little faster. Radishes can help mark the row for slower-germinating carrots. Keep the bed moist until the carrot seeds germinate.
Thinning carrots is essential. Most seed packets recommend sowing more seeds than you need so you have adequate germination, but the more seeds that sprout, the fiercer the competition. As difficult as it may be to pull up and toss seedlings, thin to seed packet recommendations for best results.
Split carrots? Uneven watering. Twisted? Heavy soil.Hairy and rooty? Too much nitrogen.
The other tough lesson about carrots is, don't pull them up to see if they are growing. But if you accidentally do so, toss the tiny carrots in your salad. They are good for you, too.
Garden Tour: The UC Master Gardeners of Napa County invite you to attend their sixth garden tour, “Down the Garden Path,” on Sunday, September 13. On this self-guided educational tour, you will see seven gardens owned by Master Gardeners in and around the City of Napa. These gardens illustrate how Napa County Master Gardeners use University of California research-based horticultural information to develop and maintain their own gardens. Tickets: $30 advance / $35 day of event. Purchase tickets here: http://bit.ly/1fqLJZe. Or you can purchase tickets at the Master Gardener office (address below). For more information, call 707-253-4143.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will hold a workshop on “Food Preserving” on Saturday, August 29, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the University of California Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. Conserving your garden's bounty and knowing exactly what's in your food are just two reasons to preserve food at home. If done correctly,canning is a safe way to process fruits and vegetables. Learn the basics of water-bath canning, pressure canning and other easy preservation techniques. Online (credit card only)Mail-in registration (cash or check only).
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
You would have been completely justified in comparing me to a broody hen at this point. Spritzing with water three to four times a day, covering and uncovering to keep the seedlings warm and rotating the trays to ensure good light coverage only briefly describes my actions.
A long-planned trip occurred during my “broody” period and I was nervous about passing the reins to my husband. He did well. I do not think that he had to make an emergency run to the nursery to replace any plants.
Upon returning from my trip, the thinning transpired without a hitch. However, I could not bear to waste the thinnings so I teased them apart and planted them as well. When the workshop date finally arrived, I was like a new mother, so proud of my baby kale.
If you would like to try your hand at a winter garden, here are some tips. Choosing the correct plants is the first step. Plants like corn, peppers and cucumbers are killed by frost; they are for summer gardens only.
Plant cool-season crops so they mature in spring or fall. Some of these crops are damaged by frost; others are not. The hardier options can survive temperatures of 25°F to 28°F.Edibles in this category include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, English peas, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, mustard greens, parsley, radish, spinach and turnips. Frost actually makes collards, spinach, cabbage and kale sweeter.
Semi-hardy plants prefer temperatures between 40°'F and 50°F and tolerate light freezes for a few hours. These vegetable include beets, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, endive, potatoes, lettuce, radicchio, rutabaga, salsify and Swiss chard. Most cool-weather edibles do not like temperatures above 75°F. With heat, they tend to bolt, which means they stop producing and set seed.
Keep winter's short days in mind. Make sure your winter garden gets at least five hours of sunlight. Remove weeds and any other unwanted vegetation. Break up the soil and amend with compost or planting mix if needed.
Starting seedlings in smaller pots, as opposed to direct-seeding them in the ground, gives you more control over their care and progress. You don't need to be as neurotic as I was. Once planted, seedlings should not be disturbed and should be kept moist. Root vegetables like beets and turnips do not transplant well and prefer to be direct-seeded. Thin them as they sprout. They need room to spread and grow.
Use a balanced fertilizer and follow package directions.Check the forecast. If it is going to be partly cloudy with mild temperatures, that's a good time to transplant. If hot days are forecast, postpone until the weather cools.
Keep seedlings watered until nature takes over. A thick layer of mulch keeps roots cool, conserves water and controls weeds. Protect young seedlings from our Indian summer heat. I use cute paper umbrellas but floating row covers work as well.
Watch for pests, whether it's the family cat that loves the feel of carrot seedlings under its tummy or slugs and snails. The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources web page has abundant information on how to control or correct common gardening problems. I laughed when one of my friends said that she does not wear her glasses when she harvests to avoid seeing aphids on the plants.
I am still a vegetable-gardening beginner but I highly recommend the experience. I get so much satisfaction from watching a tiny seed grow into a productive plant.
Garden Tour: The Master Gardeners of Napa County invite you to attend their sixth garden tour, “Down the Garden Path,” on Sunday, September 13. On this self-guided educational tour, you will see seven gardens owned by Master Gardeners in and around the City of Napa. These gardens illustrate how Napa County Master Gardeners use University of California research-based horticultural information to develop and maintain their own gardens. Tickets: $30 advance / $35 day of event. Purchase tickets here: http://bit.ly/1fqLJZe. Or you can purchase tickets at the Master Gardener office (address below). For more information, call 707-253-4143.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will present a workshop on “Cool-Season Vegetables” on Saturday, August 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the University of California Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. Discover the joy of a vegetable harvest from your own garden in fall, winter, and early spring before those summer vegetables would even think of growing. Topics include soil preparation, watering, fertilizing, harvesting and managing pests.Online registration (credit card only)Mail-in registration (cash or check only). The Napa Master Gardeners are on Facebook.
Vines throughout the valley are progressing through a process called veraison. Veraison is a French word signaling the start of the ripening process.Changes occur throughout the vine during this phase, but most importantly, veraison is when berries begin to ripen.
During veraison, berries become soft and take on the characteristic colors of the variety.Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes begin to change from green to red. From veraison until harvest, the berries will increase in size, weight and sugar content.The canes change from green to a woody brown,developing the strength needed to carry the weight of the grapes.
While veraison progresses, commercial and home growers take steps to protect the crop before harvest. Beginning with bud break in the spring, grape growers must constantly manage powdery mildew (Uncinulanecator) and botrytis (Botrytis cinerea).
In many vineyards, the spores that cause powdery mildew and botrytis are ubiquitous.A powdery mildew infection appears as a blue fungus on individual berries or bunches. Botrytis affects the internal tissues of the berry or the entire bunch. Berries split and fungal spores can proliferate. In both cases, home gardeners should remove and dispose of infected bunches to prevent wind from spreading the spores to healthy fruit. Spores of both diseases can also over-winter on vine bark and infect grapes the following year.
Grapes need leaves and sunshine to ripen. Monitoring the amount of leaves, their placement and their health is referred to as canopy management. Growers remove leaves at the base of the canes surrounding grape bunches to allow for light penetration and airflow. Then they continue to observe weather conditions and how the vineyards are oriented to the sun. They may do limited leaf removal on the west side during July and August. Over-exposing the crop can cause sunburn and bunch rot.
Home grape growers need to observe their microclimates and placement of buildings when determining how to manage the canopy. Irrigation is another way to manage canopy health. The goal is to keep the canopy healthy without promoting too much growth. During the final stages before harvest, growers mustmake irrigation decisions based on the size of the canopy, the weather, the age of the vineyard and the available soil moisture. Overstressed vines can lose leaves needed to complete ripening.
Pest management is always top of mind for growers. Vertebrate pests are a constant concern, but as ripening progresses, vineyard managers begin looking to the sky for other pests that enjoy ripe, sweet berries. Birds can devastate an entire crop. Growers use noisemakers and reflectors to deter them, but those methods may have limited or only short-term benefits. Netting may be used if bird pressure is high.
Bird netting is positioned on both sides of the vine row, protecting the fruit zone throughout the vineyard. It must be installed early, before hungry birds sense that the crop is sweet. If it is installed too tightly, birds can pierce the grapes while hanging onto the netting.
In the weeks preceding harvest, growers also mow or disk the vineyard floor to minimize weed seed production and to improve access by picking crews. This constant attention to detail protects our valley's most valuable crop and gets the winemaking off to a promising start.
Garden Tour: The Master Gardeners of Napa County invite you to attend their sixth garden tour, “Down the Garden Path,” on Sunday, September 13. On this self-guided educational tour, you will see seven gardens owned by Master Gardeners in and around the City of Napa. These gardens illustrate how Napa County Master Gardeners use University of California research-based horticultural information to develop and maintain their own gardens.Tickets: $30 advance / $35 day of event. Purchase tickets here: http://bit.ly/1fqLJZe. Or you can purchase tickets at the Master Gardener office (address below). For more information, call 707-253-4143.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will hold a workshop on “Home Vineyard: Part 2” on Saturday, August 15, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (with a 30-minute lunch break. Learn what to do and what to look for and how to plan for harvest and crush in the vineyard, testing the must, managing the vines after crush, and preparing for winter and the next growing season. Master Gardeners with home vineyards will present this workshop, and answer your questions.Please bring a sack lunch, comfortable clothes and shoes for walking through the experimental vineyard. Location is the University of California Oakville Experimental Station, 1380 Oakville Grade Road, Napa. Online registration (credit card only)Mail-in registration (cash or check only)
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
When the Napa County Master Gardeners decided to field-test kale last year, I decided it was finally time try some. Kale comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and textures, and catalogs offer a huge selection of seed.
When you growing plants from seed, you have a wider selection than what the nurseries or “big-box” stores typically carry. What's more, some of the vegetable varieties that the nursery trade grows are chosen for their ability to withstand handling, transport and display, not necessarily for their taste.
Kale is a fast-growing source of greens during our cool season. Most kales are extremely winter hardy and become sweeter with frost. Harvest can continue through winter in Napa County. Kale can be eaten raw in salads or cooked for a side dish, pasta or soup. Many of the colored varieties, including some that we grew in our trial, make attractive ornamental plants.
Harvest leaves from the outside so that the plant can continue to push new leaves from the center. As the plants mature and you remove more outside leaves, the plants can start to look like miniature trees with foliage on top of a long stem.
The field-test committee grew three varieties of kale last fall, all strikingly different.We evaluated each type for productivity, vigor and health, and for flavor and texture, both cooked and uncooked. All three types had high germination rates, ranging from 87 percent to 91 percent.
One variety we grew was 'Nero di Toscana,' a popular type often seen in grocery stores. This Italian heirloom has strap-like leaves about 3 inches and 10 to 18 inches long. It is familiarly known as dinosaur kale because of its crinkly texture.
We also tested 'Red Ursa' kale, a Russian variety. It grows into a gorgeous plant with a fountain of big frilly leaves with purple veins and stems. 'Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch' was our third selection. It is a low-growing, spreading, early kale with tightly curled, blue-green leaves, beautiful enough to be grown solely as an ornamental. The other two varieties rated higher in most categories, but no single variety was the unanimous favorite.
Some field testers found 'Blue Curled Scotch' harder to clean because of its curly leaves, and chewier and stronger in flavor. Others thought 'Red Ursa' was the prettiest and easy to use in cooking and salads. 'Nero di Toscana' generated the most enthusiastic comments and was voted most likely to be planted again. Master Gardeners liked its flavor and found it more tender and productive than the others, although it suffered more damage from cabbage larvae. Row covers helped keep bird damage to a minimum. Other pests that can damage kale include slugs and snails, cutworms, flea beetles, cabbage-root maggots and aphids.
A majority of testers said that they would grow kale again. There was a lot of enthusiasm and recipe-swapping at our meetings, with kale featured in everything from soup to chips to smoothies. Many especially enjoyed kale raw in salads. Testers appreciated that the plants produced for a long time if they harvested only outside leaves.
You can plant kale seed directly in the ground from the third week of July until mid-August. Protect young seedlings from insect damage by using row cover. You can also start kale indoors and set out transplants from the third week of August through mid-September.
Kale likes full sun but can benefit from light shade during hot weather. It prefers consistent moisture but can tolerate drought, although the flavor will suffer. Cool weather slows the damage from pests, making kale easier to grow. To minimize disease, avoid planting kale or other cabbage-family crops in the same location more than once every three to four years. Seed remains viable for up to four years.
Garden Tour: The Master Gardeners of Napa County invite you to attend their sixth garden tour, “Down the Garden Path,” on Sunday, September 13. On this self-guided educational tour, you will see seven gardens owned by Master Gardeners in and around the City of Napa. These gardens illustrate how Napa County Master Gardeners use University of California research-based horticultural information to develop and maintain their own gardens. Tickets: $30 advance / $35 day of event. Purchase tickets here - http://bit.ly/1fqLJZe. Or you can purchase tickets at the Master Gardener office (address below). For more information, call 707-253-4143.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will hold a workshop on “Home Vineyard: Part 2” on Saturday, August 15, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (with a 30-minute lunch break. Learn what to do and what to look for and how to plan for harvest and crush in the vineyard, testing the must, managing the vines after crush, and preparing for winter and the next growing season. Master Gardeners with home vineyards will present this workshop, and answer your questions. Please bring a sack lunch, comfortable clothes and shoes for walking through the experimental vineyard. Location is the University of California Oakville Experimental Station, 1380 Oakville Grade Road, Napa. Online registration (credit card only)Mail-in registration (cash or check only)
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Tomatoes are relatively easy to grow. They sprint to maturity because they only have a few weeks of hot weather to produce their bounty. Examine the many varieties offered at farmers’ markets: heirlooms, hybrids, paste tomatoes, huge slicers and tomatoes in many different colors and shapes. Some weigh a pound or more, and some, like ‘Sungold,’ are small and prolific. Knowing the tomato plant’s requirements and monitoring closely will almost always produce good results and enough tomatoes for the neighbors.
Before planting, follow all directions on plant labels and read about tomatoes in Sunset’s Western Garden Book. The best guarantee of a healthy crop is soil well-amended soil with compost and a three-inch top dressing of well-aged manure.
Tomatoes need six to eight hours of sunlight a day and a consistent watering schedule. Watering deeply encourages deep roots. If the soil is amended, fertilizer isn’t necessary, but one or two feedings of a water-soluble fertilizer won’t hurt and may help. Too much nitrogen will produce lush foliage and few tomatoes.
Plants displaying holes or chewed leaves indicate that creatures are eating their daily meal. Snails chew tender leaves when plants are small, while the tomato worm likes to settle into the fruit. The large hornworm can consume large amounts of leaves and stems.
Common sense tells us to use pet-safe deterrents for snails. Hand-pick hornworms and put in the yard-waste bin. If you see whiteflies or aphids, blast them with strong jets of water.
Occasionally, one side of a plant will show leaf yellowing and sudden wilt. These are symptoms of fungal disease. Watering won’t help. Uproot the entire plant and place it in the yard-waste bin, not the compost pile. Fungal spores remain in the soil over the winter, so plant tomatoes in a different area the following season. Look for seedlings with a label that says “VFN resistant,” which indicates that the plant is resistant to verticilium wilt, fusarium (both fungal diseases) and nematodes.
Perhaps the most confusing and prevalent tomato problem is blossom-end rot. You’ve done everything right and your tomato plants look healthy. But when you pick the fruit, you notice a circle of sunken, hard brown skin on the blossom end. This damage, typically about the size of a fifty-cent piece, is a common problem. The cause is probably a lack of calcium due to inconsistent watering.
Water moves nutrients to feeder roots. You may have plenty of calcium in your soil, but if the soil is dry, the plant can’t get it. Plants need moist but not soggy soil. Too much water and the fruits may crack.
If we meet the tomato plant’s requirements, it will reward us with larger and more abundant fruit.
When the weather cools, you may still have unripe tomatoes. Dust thick slices of green tomatoes with seasoned flour and sauté them in a bit of bacon grease for two minutes per side.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a composting workshop in partnership with the City and County of Napa and Napa Recycling and Waste Services. The workshop is Saturday, September 7, at 9 a.m. at the Yountville Community Center. Learn how to turn your waste and kitchen scraps into wonderfully rich, free compost for your garden. Discover the basics of backyard composting, worm composting, and grasscycling. Register here: http://compost.naparecycles.org
Garden Tour: Napa County Master Gardeners will host a self-guided garden tour, “Down the Garden Path,” on Sunday, September 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit seven unique gardens in and around downtown Napa, all maintained by Master Gardeners. Tickets: $25 advance/$30 day of event. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa or call 707-253-4147. Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions?
