Garden Results

In a comment on a previous post B asked what mangels are. Mangels are also called mangelwurtzel and beet root. They are related to sugar beets. They are moderately sweet. The greens are prolific and similar to swiss chard. We use the root much as we would turnips or potatoes, though they are crisper than potatoes and do not have the bite of a turnip. (In a story set in WWII Polish ghetto I heard them described as what you purchase if you cannot afford turnips.)

They are incredibly easy to grow. I only had problems with them when I over watered, but even then they recovered quickly. Ours grew to a size that we usually only consume two in a meal for the whole family - probably 3 to 5 pounds per beet. In a row 3 feet wide (including drainage/irrigation ditch space) we planted 3-5 per linear foot (maintaining a spacing of 4inches between plants). The majority are still in the ground; we will pull them just before the first hard freeze.

When selecting seed for this year's garden we were going to pass on carrots - though i had some interest we don't have the soil for them. They should be planted in sand and we have a moderately heavy clay. Still - because there were purple carrots available...

We wound up planting some because purple makes any carrot endearing to the likes of Niccus and Snoozer. With the heaviness of our soil we mostly planted them and neglected them. They were planted in short rows between cabbage plants in June. After a full season of growth they have a good girth but the heaviness of our soil is visible in the short length. They are delicious and in stew the purple colors the broth as well.

In the picture below there are a couple mangels and in my hand is a kohlrabi head stripped of its leaves and peeled. We planted kohlrabi last year - some of you may have had some at thanksgiving. That was the 'early white vienna' variety. We had the slow ones at thanksgiving - they grew to about the size of a raquetball or a baseball. The effort to grow them and peel them was enough that I probably would not have planted them again except for our participation in farmers market.

This year I planted a different variety: Kossak. We sold none at the market. they grew slowly until the fall but then they seemed to make up for lost time.

The largest one I harvested first. The body was as large as my head and the skin was tough. However once I peeled it the flesh was mild and sweet enough that the children gathered around to get strips to munch.