What Is Astragalus Root Good For

This article originally ran in the November/December 2016 issue of Hobby Farms. Once the greens are about knee-high or taller, you can get ready for your triple play. Sunshine will burn the bulbs, so store them unwashed outdoors in the shade of a porch...

Save the smaller tubers for replanting in the spring, and use the bigger tubers for cooking. The oca plant has bright-green, three-lobed leaves that can also be added to salads, but it's the tuberous roots that are most often used in the kitchen.

Create The Planting Rows Jessica Walliser Like other types, purple sweet potatoes are best planted in hilled rows. Purple sweet potatoes are grown in the same manner as more traditional sweet potato varieties.

Harvest Like A Pro Here is a harvest tip to avoid breaking daikon while harvesting: Don't pull straight up! You may snap the root in half and ruin your beautiful crop. I asked a farmer friend who said that she always learned that you should plant daikon...

If the roots hit even a tiny pebble, they'll fork or grow into a twisted, gnarled form. Because carrot seeds can take up to three weeks to germinate, you'll have to be patient before you see them sprout.

Don't be afraid to try different varieties of colored beets, too, as each color root provides your body with different nutrients. After thinning, mulch with a layer of straw or shredded leaves to cut down on future watering needs.

Optimum spacing is 8 to 10 inches between bulbs because each set matures into a cluster of six or more inch-wide bulbs. Keep the largest bulbs for use in the kitchen, and immediately replant the smallest ones for the next crop.

Best planted by directly sowing their seeds into the vegetable garden, the four root crops featured below easily shake off spring's cold soil temperatures and unpredictable frosts.

Beauregard is the predominant variety grown in Louisiana and will produce satisfactory yields over a wide range of soil types. The first tubers are ready for harvest in late August, and the harvest usually continues until early November.

Combine 3 tbsp. Because tomatoes are naturally acidic, vinegar can be used as a natural fungicide as well as a fertilizer on these tasty and nutritious plants.Vinegar is a natural substance that has a wide variety of uses.

Let The Flowers Grow John Tann/Flickr Because fennel flowers attract many beneficial insects, fennel can be a valuable cut flower to have in the garden. Here are some tips to make the job a little easier.

To harvest new potatoes, I sink a pitchfork into the soil a foot or so away from the base of the plant and gently pry up part of the plant, usually taking three or four of the bigger tubers.

I usually keep a box of tissues close at hand for this reason. I greedily eye my horseradish bed, awaiting the time when I can dig their delicious roots for fresh sauce. Some dislike its tendency to spread, but how can it spread when you're eating it...

Where to plant: Garden; containers When to harvest: 30 to 40 days after seeding, when leaves are 1 to 2 inches in length (baby spinach); 40 to 50 days after seeding (full-sized) Produce storage: Store, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Keep Them Covered As the carrots grow, their shoulders may might up out of the ground. This means that for straight, uniform roots, a deep seed bed is an absolute necessity. Because carrots have a single, thick taproot rather than many small fibrous roots,...

Waiting too long to harvest will result in woody, pithy roots. Harvests begin anywhere from 20 to 40 days after planting, depending on the variety. Radishes are the first crop to find a home in my garden every spring, a fact that always surprises me because...

Have you ever eaten a Jerusalem artichoke ( Helianthus tuberosus )? Ours grow at least 6 feet high and have a decidedly purple undertone to the green in the leaves and stem. If you'd like to use them for their health benefit, it's best to use them right...

Even the most careful gardeners planting carrots in rows end up having to thin the plants. Heirloom carrots do best in deep, loose, well-drained soil, says John “Farmer John” Fendley, founder of the Sustainable Seed Company.

Size: 12 inches Sunlight requirements: Full to partial sun (A minimum of four to six hours is ideal.) Water requirements: About 1 inch per week—overly wet soils promote black rot and other diseases.

Why People Fail Pests and disease love squash. If you catch them early, however—sometimes literally catch them, as their defense mechanism is to fall off the plant—and put them in soapy water, you shouldn't have any long-term effects.

Companion Planting Because crops of the same family tend to share pests and diseases—not to mention minerals and micronutrients—keep rutabagas away from areas where you've grown other brassicas recently.

And if there's a guarantee available, keep that receipt, tags, or whatever is needed, because the demise of this plant may not be due to your care but to what was done to the plant beforehand.

Get more growing advice from HobbyFarms.com: 15 Tips for Growing Perfect Eggplants How to Grow Beans 9 Soil Tips for Growing Better Asparagus 4 Compact Squash That Save Garden Space 4 Orchard Fruits You Never Thought to Grow About the Author: Horticulturist...

White vegetables may appear to be lacking pigment and nutrition, but just the opposite is true. As consumers of fruits and vegetables, the compounds found in these different plant pigments not only provide us with nutrition, but many of them also contain...

Some gardeners might experience a high rate of rot in potatoes stored in-ground, particularly during periods of wet weather. Also, potatoes stored in the ground are left vulnerable to voles, chipmunks, mice and other tuber-munching mammals that enjoy...

Lack of moisture can lead to woody, pithy roots. An alternate storage method involves leaving the roots in the garden, as described in a later section of this article. Give this humble vegetable a try.

The two look completely different, but I challenge anyone to tell the difference in taste. Season with sea salt and black pepper.2. Trim celery leaves from two bunch of celery. Be sure to cut the potatoes into roughly the same size or smaller.