Gardening with Newton Community Farm June 2, 2020 Root Vegetables

Root vegetables include potatoes, yams, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, onions, and garlic. Generally speaking, they’re the crops that grow underground. While some root vegetables grow quickly (like radishes and beets), others will have to produce a good amount of leafy top growth before their roots begin to plump up. So when planning and planting, be sure to give these crops plenty of space in an area with full sun.

Loosening up the soil before planting root vegetables is a good idea both for water drainage and for creating conditions in which the underground part of the plant can expand. All root vegetables require regular watering and adequate soil drainage. This is crucial because too much water or stagnant water underground can cause these crops to rot. If the leaves above ground appear green and healthy, then the plant is likely getting enough water. If the leaves are droopy or singed at the edges, that could signal a drainage issue and should be addressed.

Watch Our Online Gardening Show

Check out our YouTube Live channel for new episodes of "Gardening with Hope" each Wednesday. Shows are live at 1 pm and feature a chat option so, if you are subscribed to our channel, you can ask questions realtime. Or you can check out our channel anytime to see our recorded shows. We have recently added captioning to our recorded programs. Just click on the "cc" button at the bottom right of the screen to see subtitles.

Share Your Success

We would love to hear from you! Please send us photos of your garden, including garden selfies! Tell us what you are learning and what inspires you to garden. We'll share your trials, errors, funny stories, and successes on the Community page of our website. And if you know of another gardener who might like to receive our emails, tell them to reach out to jay@newtoncommunityfarm.org to be added to our email list. If you have gardening questions, send them to hope@newtoncommunityfarm.org We're here to help!

Support the Farm!

NEWTON COMMUNITY FARM 303 Nahanton Street Newton, MA 02459 617-916-9655 www.newtoncommunityfarm.org information@newtoncommunityfarm.org

‌ ‌ ‌