Linda Gilkeson's List for June 24..Celebrate Carrot Day!

July 1st-- Carrot Day-- is nearly here! This is the ideal date to sow the large bed of carrots (and beets, rutabagas and winter radishes) to sustain you for next winter. The timing of planting for winter harvest is critical and doesn't depend on weather and soil temperature as planting does in the spring. The number of days left in the growing season are what is important for winter crops--even a long, warm fall can't compensate for planting too late because days are so short that plants grow very little. 

If you don't have seeds by now, you may find that suppliers are running low so you may not have a big choice. Don't worry about that: I find that any varieties of carrots and beets can be successful winter crops. The key is to grow them where the soil will be well-drained next winter--sitting in waterlogged soil is particularly fatal to beets, but no plants thrive in those conditions. You might need raised beds for winter root crops if your soil isn't well drained. On the other hand, you don't need to grow them where there will be good sun exposure during mid-winter as they won't be actively growing then and should be covered completely with mulch next December.

Today the cool, cloudy weather is ideal for starting a good stand of carrots, because it is will be easier to keep the bed evenly moist through the germination period. If the weather has changed to sunny and hot (ever the optimist...) at planting time, it will be hard to keep the seed zone moist all day. For summer seed beds, I water well, then cover them with burlap, single sheets of newspaper or old beach towels to keep the soil damp and cool; even in hot weather, seed beds stay moist for a couple of days before they need more water. Check under the cover daily for germination and remove it as soon as the very first tip of a seedling shows. Germination only takes a few days for rutabagas, up to 10 days for carrots.

Beets don't have a root maggot pest so there is no need to cover them. Where you have had a lot of leafminer damage in past years (brown blotches on leaves), you may want to grow the beets under a floating row cover until the end of September to stop these insects from laying eggs on leaves.

Whew-- this is getting to be too long-- so I will save the topic of squash pollination for next time.

Brussels sprouts: If you didn't start your own plants at the end of May, now is the time to buy seedlings from nurseries. On Salt Spring, the right size of starts are available at the Chorus Frog Farm stand (Rainbow Road, across from the swimming pool entrance). It is getting too late now to start Brussels sprouts from seeds and hope to have a crop.

Purple sprouting broccoli and winter cauliflower: Seed them now if you are growing  your own--or wait and buy started plants in a month from local suppliers.

Peas: Still not too late to plant peas for later summer.

For info on my books [including my new best seller (I love saying that!), Backyard Bounty] or to check my 2011 schedule for talks and presentations in your area see: www.lindagilkeson.ca

JUST A PERSONAL NOTE: MAKE SURE YOUR GARDEN IS DEER-PROOF. They're starting to be more aggressive in their search for food! (They have eaten our tomatoes three times) :( :( :(