It's time to elevate the rutabaga and turnip from just a side dish on your fall and winter holiday tables to having a seat at meal times throughout the year.
If you're already a lover of these pungent brassicas — that's the vegetable family that includes cabbages, Brussels sprouts and broccoli — then you won't need much convincing. But if you traditionally turn up your nose at these late-fall root crop veggies, perhaps planting a sweeter variety could change your mind.
Turnips are said to have been cargo aboard ships bound for the New World circa 1619, though Indigenous natives were already growing and eating a different sort of brassica for millennia.
If traditional turnips' taste is not your favorite, perhaps try planting the Japanese "Hakurei" turnip. It's a small, round and sweet variety, with an almost apple-like flavor. These turnips are easy-to-grow, cool-season crops with a white peel and white flesh. Another sweeter turnip type to try is called "Hirosaki." It grows with a red peel and white flesh, and looks very similar to a radish. These turnip varieties are all great raw in salads or cooked.
Rutabagas' roots likely lie in Russia or Scandinavia. They are a cross between a turnip and a wild cabbage. They grow with a bigger bulb and root system and tend to have yellow flesh. Traditional rutabagas also have the reputation of having a slightly bitter flavor and are best planted in the summer for a fall crop. They'll taste sweeter when they've gone through a frost or two.
If you like the rutabaga's flavor profile, some varieties to plant and grow include the familiar Canadian type, called "Laurentian," with its purple top and yellowish bulb. Another that's even closer to home is the sweet and mild Gilfeather turnip, Vermont's state vegetable. This one is actually a cross between a turnip and a rutabaga, instead of a cabbage. The Gilfeather boasts the turnip's sweetness and the rutabaga's size and even has a whole fall festival in its honor.
For the most part, rutabagas are easy to grow, harvest and store as a spring or fall crop. Do look out for pests like flea beetles or root maggots.
Are butterfly bushes a good pollinator plant?
Q: I've seen many beautiful butterfly bushes in bloom as I walk my neighborhood, and I'm looking for shrubs to put at the back of a perennial border I'm working on. But when I searched online, I found several cautionary sites warning that it was invasive and not even very good for butterflies! I'm not sure what to think and figured the best thing I could do would be to check with Charlie. What does he say? - Jane, in Burlington
A: Though not a true invasive in Vermont, the butterfly bush, or buddleia, does readily self-sow and tends to take over garden spaces. Plus, native caterpillars don't really fancy it, so you might do better to try some alternatives.
If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, anything in the milkweed group is a good choice. Aside from common milkweed, types to try include swamp milkweed, whorled milkweed and purple milkweed. These are native species that attract butterflies and pollinators without overtaking a garden space.
A number of other native species can also attract butterflies to your garden, like callicarpa, or beauty berries. Alternately, you could stick to planting a butterfly bush, so long as you choose the buddleia variety that has sterile seed so it won't self-sow.
Separate and replant sprouted garlic cloves or start over next fall?
Q: This past summer I didn’t harvest my heads of garlic. When I uncovered them this fall the cloves had all sent out shoots. Could I dig the sprouted heads up carefully, separate them into sprouted cloves and replant the sprouted cloves? Or do I need to just dig up the heads and salvage what I can to use and preserve for this winter and just plant new cloves this fall for next year? - Ruth, via email
A: Definitely go with your first instinct to dig up the bulbs with the little shoots and replant. Separate them out, replant them, water them well and then cover the bulbs over with hay, straw or chopped leaves for some winter protection.
If you get them planted soon, ideally, they'll have about a month in the ground before the soil freezes. That should be enough time to set their roots. Then, come spring, the bulbs should continue growing and hopefully, next summer, you'll have a nice crop of garlic!
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