Comments on: On late fall garden crops

By: ty

ty — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:21:11 +0000

Though I am new to Michigan, I’ve developed a “Michigan Slaw” recipe that is great for introducing my friends to Kohlrabi. I julienne kohlrabi, apples and beets, and toss them in a sauce of honey, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, tarragon, garlic, salt, pepper, and just enough mayo to make sure it is all coated.

By: sharon

sharon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:04:19 +0000

Huh, I see that what I was responding to did not appear in my comment, but it was, “older stuff gets woody especially when it’s hot,” and that’s why (I reasoned) I must be getting woody — I used to be hot!

By: El

El — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:40:05 +0000

OMG I have been slapped with the stupid stick!!! Wow normally I am a lot more with it (was about to say “on top of things” but, oops!)

By: sharon

sharon — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:04:17 +0000

Heh

I’ve decided to take that quite personally!!

By: Joshua

Joshua — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:19:20 +0000

We got some kohlrabi in our CSA last summer. It was the first time we’d eaten it. We cut it up raw into sticks and ate it with ranch. DELICIOUS. We’re kohlrabi converts.

By: El

El — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:43:33 +0000

Stef, don’t wait too long! My experience is you can crowd them pretty well. And yes: we’ll be watching your winter harvesting, greedily.

Sylvie, this might be the only post I made about fennel! Used to be, I was the only one who liked it but now our girl is on board I am not quite sure about good timing for you with it. It does like it cool, but if it heats up too quickly it will go to seed…likewise if you plant it too late you might not get good bulbing. I am thinking mid-Sept. maybe for you, under the hoop frames: they last a while, even if it’s chilly, and this will give them more time to plump up. And kohlrabi in stir-fry sounds good. I still love it raw best, with a tiny sprinkling of good salt…

Denise, get on it! I am quite sure you should be able to find it by you somewhere. It’s really tasty. You just have to do a bit of peeling to find that out, though.

Sharon! Great, glad I taught you a little something. I guess the only thing I have tended to notice is that older stuff gets woody especially when it’s hot. Beets, though: they almost never get woody at all! One of the reasons I love them so.

By: sharon

sharon — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:03:13 +0000

I am educated. Beautifully. Lots of things I’ve wondered about fall plantings, and woody, root crops, too. Thank you. Fantastic post!

By: chez danisse

chez danisse — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:50:27 +0000

I cannot believe I still haven’t tried kohlrabi. I really need to hop to it.

By: Sylvie

Sylvie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:25:40 +0000

Kohlarabi I only planted in the spring, and there are so versatile indeed: sauteed, stir-fry, slaw, mashed, soup etc.. like celeriac which I love, and that I am also just starting to harvest.

Fennel… got to try that again. I can’t get the timing right for it to bulb. The hoop house will help… I hope. Yours are truly handsome. I need to search your archives for other post on fennel.

By: stefaneener

stefaneener — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:54:41 +0000

They look great. I have some kohlrabi to transplant, once I decide where it’s going to go.

By: El

El — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:52:28 +0000

Ed, sounds to me like that one patch might be a bit nitrogen-rich: nitrogen makes leaves grow and shorts out on flower/seed production. Maybe amp it up with some rock phosphate, which helps with both. Interesting problem though. Especially since you’re a composter too. But yeah, I add rock phosphate to my “special” compost (that destined for sick plants, or those areas where things didn’t do so well). I’m not one to buy things to put in the ground so I splurge every year or two for a 50# bag (about $15).

Mike. Trees Must Fall. Though in all honesty I am not sure why some plants bulb up, some don’t; could be some are just plain poky! But with many of your “problem” plants I think there’s a certain sun deficit…

Hi Randi! Bronze fennel is quite beautiful, isn’t it. It’s the Italan bulbing type that works best though for eating the stems. I am growing two different kinds, Zefa Fino from Fedco and a package someone left for me to plant in the school garden, just something from the big-box store; they both head up fine. I tend to seed them in one area and transfer them into rows when they’re REALLY small: they have taproots so they hate getting moved when they’re big. Small enough, you can actually pick up the whole clod of dirt, tap root and all. I don’t think your zone has anything to do with it: these guys can handle some frost just fine, if that helps.

By: randi

randi — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:39:57 +0000

Hi El, I too am wondering if there is any special variety of bulbing fennel seed you use? I know they can be grown nearby but I’ve not exactly figured the whole deal out. I’ve become addicted to fennel seed and have gotten that down but I think they come mostly from my bronze fennel plants that are ornamental and seem to reappear more or less every year. I bought some bulbs from a farmers market 40 miles south and significantly closer to sea level than I am but sheesh I must be able to grow it here as well. Any additional thoughts welcome.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:08:23 +0000

A double celeriac, how great is that. Your fennel is looking good, our grandson loves to eat the fronds. He thinks fennel is a licorice plant.:)

One of these days when I actually get a fennel to bulb up I will have to try the fennel apple salad, it sounds divine.

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:27:30 +0000

El, thanks for the great planting intel on celeriac and fennel. We love both of them, but have only toyed with the idea of actually adding them to the garden. We actually had great success with our spring planted purple kohlrabi and started a whole bunch more in seed trays in early
August. They’ve been hiding behind the late sunflowers, but are starting to show that bulge–like little sputniks. Kohlrabi is one of the best tasting and easiest of all vegetables, a well-kept secret. Our broccoli raab are doing fantastically well, also started in August, with huge foliage, but for some reason no florets. Don’t know why, but they are planted in the same spot where we got huge edamame plants but no beans.