FARM GIRLS CORNER - SCRATCHING MY BOULLES

Why are you looking at me like that? Anyway this is Farm Girl, welcome to Farm Girl's Corner and if its Friday, it must be time for a Boulle D'or or yellow turnip report.

They continue to prosper, these Boulles and we can begin to look forward to giving them a taste test within a few weeks. We did try a pot full of yellow turnip greens and they were quite good, although we really could detect no appreciable difference in flavor from ordinary white turnip greens.

The yellow turnips are now in their 8th week since their sowing on August 17, so the first ones should be ready in about 2 weeks or so, coinciding nicely with the first frost date.

I scratched one with my fingernail and the flesh is a very appealing pale yellow under the skin with a mild but distinctly turnipy aroma. We have high hopes.

But we know you are really interested in our portly garden celebrity, Mr. Big.

MR. BIG AND FRIENDS

Mr. Big may be ending his growth spurt, this is the first week in several when his girth did not expand by a full inch or more, but by perhaps a mere 7/8". He is now 20 7/8 inches in circumference. Either the cold is beginning to inhibit his continued expansion, or this as as big as he will get, or he is exhausted from his interview with the lovely Vida G, earlier this week, which can be viewed HERE. 

And just for the heck of it here's a snap of todays RUS*, destined for tonights salad.

*RADISHES OF UNUSUAL SIZE

 

That would seem to wrap things up for this weeks boulle report, tanks for stopping at Farm Girls Corner!

Root crops in the fall

Not everyone knows the secret of root crops in Autumn. Farmers do of course and veteran home gardeners as well, but the casual home gardener may not . Let's set that to rights right now.

The secret simply is that most root crops, grown as a matter of course in spring grow better, heavier, tastier and more disease and damage free growing from the warm days of late summer into cool and even cold weather.

RUS - RADISHES OF UNUSUAL SIZE

A -HAH Uncle Mac, you mendacious old rascal some might say, you are holding yonder overblown radishes a foot in front of a very small pepper to inflate their size, not to mention egos.

No, scoffer, I might reply, those radishes are touching what is in reality a reasonably good sized bell pepper. These are common "French Breakfast" variety radishes but they exceed their Spring grown brethren by a considerable margin both in volume and crunchiness.

The same is true of beets, kohlrabi, turnips of all varieties, and rutabagas. (Which is often called a turnip but actually is not.) Carrots grow well although not necessarily bigger and will overwinter in situ if cared for properly. Parsnips fairly cry out to be grown until the first frost at least, it greatly enhances their flavor. They also overwinter well.

A PRIZE RUTABAGA IN AN EARLY STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT

One of the nice things about fall root crops is many can be kept not just in the ground but in the home as well to provide a food source all the way into early spring. The rutabaga shown above is an excellent example of a long keeping fall root crop.

It is almost certainly too late in most zones to plant a successful fall crop - with the possible exception of radishes - but you now have all winter to plan your "second season" garden for next year.

As always, thank you for visiting Uncle Mac's.

We hope to see you back soon!