MSU Extension MI Ag Ideas to Grow With

Benjamin W Phillips: Good morning. Good morning, folks. Benjamin W Phillips: We're on the last day of the Michigan ag ideas to grow with Webinar series. Benjamin W Phillips: and if it's your first time joining us. Hello. Happy to meet you! And if you're back again from some of these other veg sessions. Benjamin W Phillips: we're happy to see you once more. We've really enjoyed the level of interaction that we've been getting through the chat. Benjamin W Phillips: I want to remind you all that we've got a sponsor for this program called Aggress Strategies, and if you were to Benjamin W Phillips: go to one of these QR codes. They look different. So I don't know if they bring you to different places. But I just Google, them and i'll show you what I found aggress strategies is run by a fella named Steve Clumper or Klumper. Benjamin W Phillips: not sure how to pronounce it, and he is a consultant for farmers on their finances. Benjamin W Phillips: It he'll improve, collect, cash, flow. It'll help understand where there are inefficiencies in the farm, and where you can make some changes. Benjamin W Phillips: and Benjamin W Phillips: you may be the kind of person to talk to about succession, planning, or or what direction you should take for whether you want to be an Llc. Or an S. Corp, and these are important decisions to make on a farm if you haven't made them already. It sounds like Steve may be a person to approach, and he's very tailored to. Benjamin W Phillips: and the agricultural mindset, which is always a plus. You don't have to explain so much to somebody who is already working mostly with farmers. Benjamin W Phillips: So thank you, Steve. Benjamin P Werling: Okay, Well, good morning, everybody. Benjamin P Werling: I'm also Ben and I always like introducing myself with Ben and Ben. Benjamin P Werling: Thank you for joining us this morning. I just encourage folks. Benjamin P Werling: All right. So Benjamin P Werling: you guys have already talked about the fruit of vegetables. You've talked about Benjamin P Werling: leaves, craps that we harvest for their leaves. And the cool thing about vegetables is that humans seem to have been really good over time at selecting certain plants Benjamin P Werling: for things that those plants are good at, and the plants we're going to talk about today are good at using Benjamin P Werling: their roots as storage organs to store energy. Benjamin P Werling: And so that's what we eat. That's the commonality of radishes and beats and carrots. We're eating their underground storage or Benjamin P Werling: so today. We're going to talk about some of the types of of radishes, beats, and carrots. I chose those craps because they are ones that are commonly grown. and different firms and scales. Benjamin P Werling: How they're packaged and sold. and how they're grown. Benjamin P Werling: Ben wanted me to share some tips and how to save a screenshot, so that Benjamin P Werling: if you see something that you want to save your computer. you can do that right away rather than waiting for these to be posted. Benjamin P Werling: So it looks like you can hit the windows, logo and print screen Benjamin P Werling: for the space bar Benjamin P Werling: or shift. Command 3 for Max. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So there are some commonalities between these crops. They're all cool season craps. One grower told me that they're comfortable and we're comfortable. Benjamin P Werling: They're all direct, so that planted from seed, unlike, you know, something like a Brassica transplant. Benjamin P Werling: You can't transplant beats. Benjamin P Werling: but most of these are direct so. Benjamin P Werling: and they have some similar opportunities, needs and challenges. Benjamin P Werling: So this slide is I really like this slide. It shows how many plants would fit into a square foot Benjamin P Werling: just to give you an idea of the space commitment. the different and yeah. Benjamin P Werling: And so if you look at something like a tomato. it has a relatively big space requirement compared to something like a radish. or it be, or a Benjamin P Werling: so, you can grow a lot of these craps, or a lot of plants per acre Benjamin P Werling: for these root craps. and we'll talk about it in a little bit. The number you can cram in also depends on their end use Benjamin P Werling: and the variety Benjamin P Werling: so relatively small space commitment compared to something like a squash, especially buying craps. Take glattery. Benjamin P Werling: and that time commitment is important because time is money, and Benjamin P Werling: you know, the more Benjamin P Werling: return you can get per acre, but also per time. Benjamin P Werling: the more you can get out of your land. And so this is looking at the time aspect of things. I think Bennett showed this before, but it shows days to maturity for different types of craps. Benjamin P Werling: and it ranges really widely for root craps on the low end of things. You have radishes which are just crazy. Benjamin P Werling: How fast they grow! They pump out of the ground with a lot of vigor, and they keep going Benjamin P Werling: in a warm weather. You can have a red radish crap in 20 something days. Benjamin P Werling: You look at something like a beat. It's more on the order of 50 to 70 days. Benjamin P Werling: Carrots depending on the end use can be closer to 100, or perhaps even greater. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah. Benjamin P Werling: So we're gonna talk. I want to talk first about the types of radishes and beats and carrots. Benjamin P Werling: If if you're like me when you think of a radish. You typically think of what's called a garden radish or a reddish. Benjamin P Werling: and these are probably the most commonly consumed radish here in the Us. You got your typically red round radish. Benjamin P Werling: We also have varieties like French breakfast. They have a little bit more elongated root. and those those are the ones that have a really short maturity. I'm. 20 to 30 days. Benjamin P Werling: but worldwide if you look at just the amount of radish that's consumed. Benjamin P Werling: it's actually more specially radishes consumed, especially in Asian cuisines. Benjamin P Werling: That's something. I'm i'm kind of curious about. I'm learning more about. Benjamin P Werling: and some of these have longer maturity. So if you take something like a d icon radish. Benjamin P Werling: It may be closer to 50 days compared to a red radish. Benjamin P Werling: so radishes are Also. Benjamin P Werling: there's a variety of radish called oil seed radish that has gained popularity as a cover crat. One of the benefits of it is. you'll see names like Pile, driver and Jack Hammer. Benjamin P Werling: and the idea is that the tap root and the really fine roots help break up the soil. So growers will plant those in August. Benjamin P Werling: I'm. In the winter kill. They'll say that in the spring the ground is is really mellow. really easy to work. Benjamin P Werling: and it looks like an aerated line, because the radish disintegrates, and there's holes in the soil. Benjamin P Werling: so it makes the ground easy to work, and Benjamin P Werling: in the spring also out competes winter annual weeds. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So now we can get. The types of beats. Beats were originally Benjamin P Werling: cultivated and eaten back in the day for their leaves. I'm going back to each of times Benjamin P Werling: because it's a relative. It's a relative same species, actually a Swiss Chard. So I mean you can eat, beat greens from any any beat variety. Benjamin P Werling: But you all probably know more is her typical table beat. and those come in different varieties, too. We have our typical Benjamin P Werling: red Round Table beat. There's some varieties. Benjamin P Werling: I've only seen them in Benjamin P Werling: home gardens, but they have a more long tubular route that's met Benjamin P Werling: to make these nice slices for pickling. Benjamin P Werling: and then we have golden beats, which have a milder flavor, and it's golden color, but it had a nice splash of color. Benjamin P Werling: and I can never pronounce it right. But these cheek chocolate beats candy strike beats with the alternating red and white bands, which are really pretty. Benjamin P Werling: That's a great question which beat is the sweetest. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah. Benjamin P Werling: I think I think that red red beats are sweeter than golden beats. Benjamin P Werling: I'm. Not a 100% sure on that. Benjamin P Werling: But I think that red beats are. Is anyone else in the Benjamin P Werling: and the Webinar verse of any experience. Benjamin P Werling: That's a good question, and I know that there's a measurement called bricks. which you don't need to remember that it's just a way to level measure sugar levels and plants Benjamin P Werling: and C companies that breed beats are interested in that because they want a sweet beat. Benjamin P Werling: and if you're like me. When I still Ben's recipe. you add a lot of sugar to your pickle beats. Benjamin P Werling: I think red beats are probably the sweetest. That's my guess. Benjamin P Werling: Okay? Benjamin P Werling: Well, in the care up front carrots are also really interesting. They come in a lot of different colors. and, as I understand it, the earliest carrots were actually Benjamin P Werling: yellow colored. but we selected them for orange color over time. Benjamin P Werling: It is, it's more of a cultural tradition. It's interesting is you meet people from different parts of the world. Benjamin P Werling: the color of a crap that they eat it's really a cultural heritage thing. Benjamin P Werling: So in Germany they white asparagus, we green asparagus. Benjamin P Werling: So they come at different colors. and that's really cool, for Benjamin P Werling: you know, especially in this market grower. If you can attract your customers with a burst of color. Some Benjamin P Werling: firms will even grow. They'll do mixed bunches of multicolored carrots to track customers. Benjamin P Werling: They also come in different shapes. Benjamin P Werling: so kind of the classic here that I think a lot of people know, is it? Which is long and skinny. and it requires a really deep. Benjamin P Werling: not deep soil, but really soil that it's really loose on a deep level because it it's a long carrot. Benjamin P Werling: Those are the type that are grown out in California. Benjamin P Werling: and they get cut and peeled into our boat house carrots, our baby cut Benjamin P Werling: cut, and peel carrots. We also have some fresh market production here in Michigan. Benjamin P Werling: Those are mostly fresh market carrots Benjamin P Werling: growing on a large scale. He also had the Nantes type carrot. Benjamin P Werling: which is more like a like a tube. It doesn't taper. Benjamin P Werling: but those are really commonly grown on market farms. Benjamin P Werling: They're sweet, and they have a nice maturity time, so they're good fit. Benjamin P Werling: good fit for that Benjamin P Werling: Shanton a carrots our giant. I I wish I put a picture in here. If they can't be giant. They're grown here in Michigan for processing. Benjamin P Werling: They have more of a wet shape. Benjamin P Werling: One thing that's nice about them is that if you have heavy soil because of that shape, they pull out more easily. Benjamin P Werling: And yeah, you can eat. You can eat any of these types of carrots and grow any of these types. Benjamin P Werling: So if you guys have a favorite car at variety and you're not shy about it. Go ahead and drop it in the chat. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So now i'll talk a bit about how root crops are packaged and sold. Benjamin P Werling: Oh, cool. Nepali. Benjamin P Werling: Is that a long skinny car? Or is that like the Nantes carrot like Bolero? Or Benjamin W Phillips: it's a it's kind of like bolero. Benjamin P Werling: Cool doesn't. Take quite as long Benjamin P Werling: cool. Benjamin P Werling: So one of the things about these root craps is that they can all. Benjamin P Werling: There's really 2 ways Benjamin P Werling: that you can see him at the store, and that's true. Across all these craps we'll talk about. I just happen to show carrots here. Benjamin P Werling: and that's either bunched with the tops or tapped Benjamin P Werling: and bunch of the carrots with the tops. It's just a way it's really a marketing thing. Benjamin P Werling: Consumers like to see that green. Benjamin P Werling: It makes them think that they're fresh right from the field. Benjamin P Werling: and it's just attractive. So that's really the main reason that radishes carrots and beats can be bunched Benjamin P Werling: because they actually store better when they're tapped. The tapping is the other way to do it. Basically, remove the taps. Sometimes they're put in a what's called a cello pack a plastic bank, or sold individually. and then more so for carrots and radishes. Benjamin P Werling: It can also be fresh cut. So I know one grower, for example, who Benjamin P Werling: it grows Benjamin P Werling: that the aunties type carrot for carrot sticks. Benjamin P Werling: It's a fresh product. They're sent down to Grand Rapids and cut into sticks for party trays. And of course we have our classic cut in po ones, too. Benjamin P Werling: These also are some of our major processing craps. So here in Michigan, for example, we have Benjamin P Werling: folks who are growing carrots for baby food for Gerber. Benjamin P Werling: and also for frozen food. and then they can be Benjamin P Werling: beats in particular, can be pickled, although you can do that. you can also pick a Benjamin P Werling: Asian radishes. You can pick. Go, hear it. Benjamin P Werling: So that's another method of preservation that's really interesting. So Abigail said that Benjamin P Werling: one year she took all her little carrots and tap them, and so them and zip back begs at the market. That's really smart. Benjamin P Werling: and I don't know, Abigail, if if the carrots were met to be little, or if you had a rough year. But I really liked it, because you're like simulating Benjamin P Werling: what people are used to with those cut and peel carriage at the store. Benjamin P Werling: but in a direct grower to by our way, that's really creative Benjamin P Werling: It didn't thin him. Benjamin P Werling: I'm. I'm curious if you did that again, Abigail, if it so well enough that you went to do it again. Benjamin P Werling: We're going to talk about that in a little bit, though how the size of these craps Benjamin P Werling: it's determined by your planting density. Benjamin P Werling: and all of these can be grown. Oh, well. Benjamin P Werling: some of these can be grown as baby versions of the big ones just by sewing them at high density. Beats are an example of that. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So now we're going to get into how they are grown. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So one of the things about all of these craps Benjamin P Werling: is that you can do some succession planting. Benjamin P Werling: and that's just a way to provide a supply for whatever your market window is. and you can make that market window. Benjamin P Werling: whatever you want it to be, within the constraints set by the first to last for a State. Benjamin P Werling: and whether or not you have a hoop house. Benjamin P Werling: a really good example of that is radishes. You can sell them all summer Benjamin P Werling: offspring and summer from about April Benjamin P Werling: through the August, and you can, so that weekly they have a continuous supply. Benjamin P Werling: You can do the same thing with beats because they take longer to mature your last Benjamin P Werling: planting date. Benjamin P Werling: You can't plant them as late basically. but the same idea, instead of planting all the way to August. You might make your last planting in June or July late June, maybe. Benjamin P Werling: and season extension is also possible with all these crafts. So Benjamin P Werling: Ben and I often get calls when growers have problems. And so Benjamin P Werling: this reddishoop house had some problems. Benjamin P Werling: but it also illustrates that you can do season extension. You can grow radishes out of season. You can plant carrots in the fall for winter harvest. You can grow beats Benjamin P Werling: in the hoop house. and so, if if you want to grow longer than the constraint, some other nature you can. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: oops Benjamin P Werling: the other Benjamin P Werling: oops. The other thing about root craps is that they remind me a little bit of Goldilocks going into the house with 3 bears. Benjamin P Werling: and she gets some bowls of porridge and Benjamin P Werling: summer to hat. One is too hot Benjamin P Werling: once too cold, the one is just right. and I feel like these cool season. Craps are kind of like that. Benjamin P Werling: They like temperatures that are warm enough to grow. Benjamin P Werling: but not to worm, because then they slow down Benjamin P Werling: and not too cold. So they don't freeze. Benjamin P Werling: And so optimizing growing conditions can be a way to kind of promote their growth and ward off some of the disorders that they can hear. Benjamin P Werling: So one way to do that is planting date. So you can grow these throughout the year. But planting so that they mature in spring Benjamin P Werling: or fall will mean they'll be maturing in those more milder temperatures. But again. Growers can grow them out here. Something that you'll find in almost all the books Benjamin P Werling: is that they like loose, friable soil. So you think about that root. Benjamin P Werling: It's not like a fruit that's in the air, and it's expanding with that which resistance it's in the soil, and it's it's trying to grow, and if it's restricted. Benjamin P Werling: it's it's not going to grow as well, and you'll get stubby roots or funny shapes. It doesn't mean you can't grow him in clay Benjamin P Werling: but in general they like loose, viable soils. and then well drained. Benjamin P Werling: And that might mean in the case of large fields. You might need to do some tiling. Benjamin P Werling: or that might be about site, selection, or it might be about using raised beds Benjamin P Werling: and a race that doesn't have to be complicated. It can be just a ridge. Benjamin P Werling: because basically if that route encounters saturated soils. Benjamin P Werling: it's gonna be start for oxygen. It won't look good. And then, lastly, irrigation. So you want to keep those soils moist. Benjamin P Werling: and we've got 2 good questions in the chat. Benjamin W Phillips: Going back to how they are packed and sold. Hey, hey, Ben, quick, quick thing here all all week. I never noticed this until today. Some people have their chat set, so that their questions are only coming to us, and not everyone can see them. Benjamin W Phillips: Herm's question is one of those so? Not anywhere. Not everyone has seen it. So I I interrupted you. But I think you were about to do what I was gonna ask, and that is, repeat the question. Got it. Benjamin P Werling: and you. I might need your help on this bank because you have more food, safety, experience. Benjamin P Werling: So Herm asked a good question. Benjamin W Phillips: I'm trying to so her. I'm trying to understand your question. So it sounds like Benjamin P Werling: you're wondering if a bed. a baked crap. Benjamin P Werling: so a closer seal bank, with something like carrots in it. it's classified differently Benjamin P Werling: in the sense that you can't sell them in some places, but not others. Is that how you understand it, Ben. Benjamin W Phillips: Yeah, that's how i'm Benjamin W Phillips: That's how i'm reading it. Benjamin W Phillips: And he said, some farm markets want the bag left open. Benjamin P Werling: There's no legal thing here. There's no law that Benjamin W Phillips: governs this whatsoever. Benjamin W Phillips: The law regarding produce that's commonly eaten raw has a lot to do with how you handle things. The packaging has to be clean. It doesn't really it doesn't matter if it's closed or open. Benjamin W Phillips: one time use packaging is suggested Benjamin W Phillips: ceiling a bag, especially after you take the tops off. Well, either way. Really, once you take once you take the root crop out of the ground leaves on or not. It's going to start to get floppy on you unless you can maintain the moisture somehow. And so a seal bag helps with that Benjamin W Phillips: a farmer's market may want you to leave it open. I don't know why they really care. Seems like that would be the vendor's discretion. Benjamin W Phillips: but there's no law about whether a sealed bag is marketed differently than an open bag. Benjamin P Werling: Thank you, Ben. I appreciate that. And, Herm, If that did not answer your question, please. Perhaps some more Benjamin P Werling: have it back into the chat. Benjamin W Phillips: I thought of one another caveat to that Benjamin W Phillips: he didn't mention cutting. But if you're cutting the carrots. For some reason. Benjamin W Phillips: then, that Benjamin W Phillips: that would be that would have to be handled differently, because it's an irreversible process, and the State of Michigan considers that a process that you need a inspected kitchen for. Benjamin W Phillips: But, like I said, that wasn't I didn't see that in your question. But that would be one case where you you you would need to do something different. You could still market it the same. It could be in a bag, or open or sealed. But to get to that part to get to that end product of a cut car. It Benjamin W Phillips: It would require an inspected kitchen. Benjamin P Werling: got it Benjamin W Phillips: There's a follow up about his top and considered cutting. No, they don't consider topping cutting. Benjamin W Phillips: They consider that harvest process. Benjamin W Phillips: and that can happen in the field, or it can happen out of the field, but it is generally considered a a harvest process, and so it doesn't Benjamin W Phillips: it does. You don't run a foul of any issues with that Benjamin P Werling: so, Ben? I think. No, Mel, go ahead a comment. Benjamin P Werling: Oh, I can answer berries, and then you can. Benjamin P Werling: and maybe follow up and Benjamin P Werling: mentioned cottage food to us but some food laws. I think our State specific, like maybe the cottage food loss. Benjamin P Werling: But then Ben was talking about an act that is Federal. I believe the produce safety Benjamin P Werling: regulations. So I think those are consistent. Benjamin P Werling: But then what cottage food laws apply to Benjamin P Werling: processing? Benjamin P Werling: You're discussing? Yeah, it does Benjamin W Phillips: it? It? It has. It has pretty prescriptive guidelines for things like acidified food Benjamin W Phillips: and pickled stuff. Benjamin W Phillips: Well, I think actually acidified food is one of the things that's not not a lot like making Salsa's requires an inspected kitchen Making pesto requires an a inspected kitchen, but pickles do not require an inspected kitchen. Benjamin W Phillips: because it's Benjamin W Phillips: anyway, Melville has the best resource there, the cottage food law which I can. I can dig it up and put it in the chat so you can review it. But cutting Benjamin W Phillips: cutting is not allowed. You need to for that. There's no like swooping under it for something like that. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: yeah, I think. Got it. Thank you, Ben. Benjamin W Phillips: There was a couple of other questions that may have gotten buried. One was about growing in potting soil. Then Benjamin P Werling: thank you. Benjamin P Werling: So Megan is. Benjamin P Werling: if you grow, these root craps and pads can use padding soil, and I don't see why not? Benjamin P Werling: Most of the crops are grown in the ground. But actually I should back up a stat Benjamin P Werling: because radishes Benjamin P Werling: our one crat Benjamin P Werling: that you can. You can grow in containers. I've seen Benjamin P Werling: farms do that where they just have a Benjamin P Werling: They have a plan. Benjamin P Werling: It's the just a regular old plan. or maybe even a tray with sales. and they'll grow radishes Benjamin P Werling: right in that flat or south. Benjamin P Werling: So that is a crack that I've seen grown in media like Paddy makes Benjamin P Werling: Then the only other thing I would make guess is that for something like a carrot. Benjamin P Werling: You would need a relatively deep. a deep that so Benjamin P Werling: to let it grow. Benjamin P Werling: I I have not seen carrots or beats growing containers, but Benjamin P Werling: on a household level I I assume you could do it. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: And there's some nice. It looks like there's some good comments. Benjamin P Werling: some good comments in the in the chat on kind of truth. Us. Thank you, Abbott Abigail. Benjamin P Werling: Okay, when you tap it here. Are you leaving any STEM? Where are you cutting the carrot Benjamin P Werling: you are Just Benjamin P Werling: do you guys see my cursor? Benjamin P Werling: I don't know if you can. Yeah, I can see it, Ben. So you're you're basically just cutting off. These are these: the green part is the pedals of the leaves. You're just trimming them, so there'll be a little nub at the bottom. If you cut Benjamin P Werling: the actual orange paradox. it's going to lose a bunch of water and dehydrate Benjamin P Werling: Processing Growers do that because their processors don't don't want to do that step Benjamin P Werling: but for market. Yeah, you're just trimming off those pdos, and there's no magic length that you want to do that, too. Benjamin P Werling: And what you're doing Benjamin P Werling: when you're tapping them. So if you think about how water moves through a plant up through the roots. Benjamin P Werling: and it it's a transpiration process. It's what it's called. It transpires to the leaves. That's how plants breathe. or that's how they move water. Benjamin P Werling: and so if the leaves are on the plant, it's going to keep doing that. Benjamin P Werling: and it's going to dehydrate and triple up. But if you trim the leaves off. it'll last a bit longer or considerably longer. Benjamin P Werling: but it just depends how you want to market them. And if you want to store them Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: cool, Megan. I don't see why you couldn't grow grow root crops in the laundry hamper. Because those are pretty big. Benjamin P Werling: I try it. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So going back to that. Benjamin P Werling: Why, a loose, friable soil is important. Carrots, because they have a long route. a really good example of it. So here in the left are some stubby carrots. Benjamin P Werling: and this one's kind of funny shape, too. Benjamin P Werling: What can happen if the soil is compacted, or if it gets saturated. Benjamin P Werling: or even if there's a rack in the case of a carrot. is it? Can it can kill the growing point if you look at how a carrot route grows the length of a carrot Benjamin P Werling: it's set really early in development. And so. even when you have that thin white route. If something impedes it in the tip days. Benjamin P Werling: or or it's just black, you're gonna end up with a stubby carrot. Benjamin P Werling: or if it kills a growing point, you'll end up with sprangles or forks. It's just like trimming a bush Benjamin P Werling: that terminal but is gone. And now it's gonna the plant doesn't Benjamin P Werling: doesn't have the message. That's where it's going to grow. It's going to send out all these other shoots. Now, there are ways around that Benjamin P Werling: on heavier soils, and one of those ways is to use raised beds. Benjamin P Werling: I couldn't find a great picture. So here I have Benjamin P Werling: to raise bed like you might see in a home garden. but it doesn't have to be that complicated. So in some parts of the country they have, the planter has a richer. Benjamin P Werling: and it's it built up a M. Maybe about like this tile. Benjamin P Werling: and plants of seeds. so it can be a lot simpler than a more complicated race bed like that, so that makes the soil fluppy. It provides better drainage. Benjamin P Werling: The other thing that you know I know one market grower Benjamin P Werling: that has heavy soil, and over time they've amended their soil with compost. and I think those organic amendments can help, too. Benjamin P Werling: Oh, i'm sorry bad. Benjamin P Werling: We have wood checks in our garden, too. They seem to love the beats. Benjamin P Werling: I don't know about carrot taps. Benjamin P Werling: and I don't know if it's the bunnies or the woodchucks that eat our beet taps, but they are delicious greens. and so environments will eat them. Benjamin P Werling: I I've never seen Benjamin P Werling: the environment eat a carrot tap, though dear love, to eat carrots and pull them out of the ground. Benjamin P Werling: Ben, do you have any any experience with caretops getting eaten? Benjamin W Phillips: I had a fence in my garden that prevented a lot of that. But in a in a commercial setting that's very hard to avoid. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah. Benjamin W Phillips: and Benjamin W Phillips: sometimes they'll put the Benjamin W Phillips: the teenage kids on on environment, duty. Benjamin P Werling: Yes. Oh, environment, duty. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, you can do tramping. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah. Benjamin P Werling: that's right. So you could do tramping to try and eliminate them. Benjamin W Phillips: They're quite They're quite attractive. 1. One big one farm over in a fentan I'm. Worked with in the past always tried to grow carrots every year, and the deer were with their biggest problem. Benjamin W Phillips: like they can cover more mileage than the groundhog. But they were. They were definitely an issue. Benjamin W Phillips: Those are a little harder to to control with gunfire, because there's there's laws about them because they're a game animal. They're a little tougher to to handle mid-season. Benjamin W Phillips: There's really no easy answer. There's No, really no cheap answer, either. Benjamin W Phillips: Yeah, I I know we still having Abigail put a great thing in the chat about a dog. Dogs work. Really. Well. Benjamin W Phillips: it's kind of what they're that's kind of what they're bred for Benjamin W Phillips: with the with the New Food Safety Modernization Act. You gotta be a little careful with Benjamin W Phillips: where you're in, where your domesticated animals go, and what they do, and all that. But all the inspectors I've met with have been fairly Benjamin W Phillips: fairly cautious about getting into the weeds on on work animals, if that's Benjamin W Phillips: if that's what it is that they're there to do, and it's not just a PET that you let out once in a while, but it's a great suggestion. Dogs work pretty well. Benjamin P Werling: Huh! Benjamin P Werling: I know we have a fence in our garden. Benjamin P Werling: It kept the deer out. but the holes were big enough that other environments could get through. so I can imagine if that we had put Benjamin P Werling: like some chicken way around the base or something it might help. I don't know. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So one of the most challenging things about growing these craps is we control not so much in radishes because they're so quick but definitely in the longer Benjamin P Werling: maturity varieties or crafts. because there are a lot of herbicides label Benjamin P Werling: bye. And and so one technique that can be really helpful is something called stale. See bedding. You can't always do it, because you might be time limited. but it can really help. And the idea here Benjamin P Werling: is that Benjamin P Werling: it's only seeds, and about the top one and a half inches of soil that germinate. Benjamin P Werling: And so, if you can Benjamin P Werling: draw down the weed seeds in this area before you plan it's beneficial. So what does that mean? Basically. Benjamin P Werling: it means making a a nice seed bed a couple of weeks in advance of when you plant you're basically making a good environment for weeds to grow. Benjamin P Werling: and that could include good seed to soil, contact, and even irrigation. Benjamin P Werling: You let them come up, and then you kill them somehow. whether that's with an herbicide with a tart Benjamin P Werling: or a flammer. Benjamin P Werling: and then you do that a couple or shall cultivation, as you mentioned. Benjamin P Werling: and you do that a couple of times, and you play your crap. Benjamin P Werling: And so here's what that this might look like in carrots. Benjamin P Werling: This is at 2 stale seat bedding. So they prep the seed bed they've let we teach germinate once, kill them. Now they're doing it a second time. You can see these low weed ceilings, and then they're going to Benjamin P Werling: It Looks like shadowy. Benjamin P Werling: You some cultivate them, maybe with like a flex tine weeder. Benjamin P Werling: And so, after 3 stale seed beds there were a lot of weeds. and the result is that those carrots have a head start on the weeds. Benjamin P Werling: It basically bought us some time Benjamin P Werling: for the crap to grow before the weed sees Germany. Dan made her life easier in terms of the amount of hoeing and mechanical cultivating you have to do. Benjamin P Werling: Oh. Benjamin P Werling: okay. There's some really good comments. Benjamin P Werling: Oh, I hadn't Heard about step in net fencing. That's neat. Sounds like it's not cheap, but it's in an an option for controlling rodents. Thanks. You have a gal. You're putting a lot of good stuff in the chat. Benjamin P Werling: Well, the next thing I want to get to Benjamin P Werling: so talked a little bit about seed bed prep, and trying to do that in a way that Benjamin P Werling: drains down the weed seed. So you've got less to fight during the season. Benjamin P Werling: I want to talk next about plant populations. How many seeds do you put per foot or per acre. Benjamin P Werling: And the reason I want to talk about that is that the spacing and root crops determines their size. So this is a turn up. It didn't have any neighbors, and it was. It was bigger than a basketball. That's my old ford. Focus there. Benjamin P Werling: So if you give these roo craps. More space you propagate about the same yield is at a lower density. but they'll just be bigger. and you can see that in the world of carrots. So Benjamin P Werling: if you look at sewing for fresh market carrots which are skinnier. you plant them a lot more densely. whereas processing carrots Benjamin P Werling: our let lessons same for beats. If you Benjamin P Werling: the folks growing them in Wisconsin for pickling. Benjamin P Werling: we'll plant Benjamin P Werling: a much higher density than the folks here in Michigan which are planting for fresh market. Benjamin P Werling: They want a bigger beat in Wisconsin. They want a smaller beat for Pickley. Benjamin P Werling: Oh, good question, Erica. So Erica asks approximately what depth of loose soil Benjamin P Werling: is needed for a good carrot crap and beat crap. and I would say, you need Benjamin P Werling: deeper loose soil for a carrot versus a beat. Benjamin P Werling: I've heard one grower, say. Benjamin P Werling: and other growers did not agree with them. They said You need a good loose soil, but he said, I can grow beats on a parking lot. I don't think that's necessarily true. But and when you think about it, beat Benjamin P Werling: part of it sticking up above ground, and maybe about this much is below ground. Benjamin P Werling: and and a kara is more longer and skinny. It's gonna go. Benjamin P Werling: The harvestable part is longer. Benjamin P Werling: so I think you would need Benjamin P Werling: it. Benjamin P Werling: Whatever length. Care it you want is almost the depth of the loose soil that you would need whether they'd be, you know, 8 or 9 inches. Maybe Benjamin P Werling: we're asked for a beat. I think you get get away with a little bit less. Benjamin P Werling: It kind of depends on the equipment you're using to work the soil. Benjamin P Werling: cause till it is another way to loosen up that soil. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So I mentioned how the mouth that you plant affects the size of the crap. and so what that also means is that Benjamin P Werling: if you're really, if you're in precise with your planting, if the amount of seeds per put Benjamin P Werling: plants per foot Benjamin P Werling: variable across your rows you'll get lots of different sizes of the crap. It'll be 9 uniform. and that may be a good thing Benjamin P Werling: or a bad thing. It just depends on what your market is. Benjamin P Werling: It also affects the type of pointer that you might want to use. So some of our beat growers in Michigan use something called a planet. Jr. Benjamin P Werling: And it has a meter that kind of moves the seed down into these plates They have holes that are size to different seeds. Benjamin P Werling: It's a relatively imprecise pointer. but they like it, because in that setting they never know what exactly their buyer is going to. We Sometimes they want more small beats. Benjamin P Werling: Sometimes they want or larger beats. and so that allows them at any one time to pack. to pack what they buy or what. Benjamin P Werling: Now there are other versions of of cedars out there Benjamin P Werling: that are trying to better singulate seeds. Just pick one seat of time and drop it. Benjamin P Werling: Some of these are about. There's something called about planter which picks up a seed in these divots, and then drops it something that is more accessible to the smaller growers something called the jang planter. Benjamin P Werling: where you have these seed roles with different divot sizes. Benjamin P Werling: Then i'll pick up a seed and then drop it. Benjamin P Werling: And these work really well for round-seated vegetables. They work really great for radishes and for Benjamin P Werling: turnips. Benjamin P Werling: They work okay for beats and that very well for Benjamin P Werling: unpowered a car at seat. Benjamin P Werling: Now, some growers that want a really uniform crap. Benjamin P Werling: and they want it to get all the same size Benjamin P Werling: all at once we use what's called a vacuum planter. Benjamin P Werling: I I like your kind of Abigail, so she says old women are picky when purchasing pickling beats. Some swear by baby beats, and the next one will want the largest one you can grow. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah. that's really interesting, because you could have. Benjamin P Werling: So I can imagine that having a variety of sizes could be good, and you could sort them into different size classes for your customer, or harvest them at different times. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, that's interesting. Benjamin P Werling: I kind of like the big beats, because there's less peeling per unit. B, although it is kind of satisfying to like. Slap off the skin. Benjamin W Phillips: That's a great observation. I wonder Benjamin W Phillips: Perhaps you mentioned this, Ben, about how the how beats have that multi German seed. And so you end up with Benjamin W Phillips: that's coming. Oh, okay, cool. Benjamin P Werling: Just because I think it's cool. I'll. I'll let you talk about it, because I think it plays into that. Benjamin W Phillips: You can end up with Benjamin W Phillips: like a bully beat, and then, little ones. And like Benjamin P Werling: I wanted to show you guys, this video. Not all of it. Benjamin P Werling: You don't need the sound. Not going to worry about that. It's basically Benjamin P Werling: rock and roll music because people like to rack out when they're playing team. Benjamin P Werling: But this is what's called a vacuum planter. and it's kind of the ultimate and precision. Benjamin P Werling: So driving their truck out to the field. and they've got some unpleasant carrot seed. You can see it's not round. Benjamin P Werling: so it's going to be hard for that, like a jing planter to cingulate. Benjamin P Werling: and they're dumping it in. They're racking out to their guitar music. Benjamin P Werling: And yes, there is seed in the happer. That's good. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, More seed. Okay, here's a bit. I wanted to show Benjamin P Werling: so you can see these little holes and be in this what's called the plate. Benjamin P Werling: You can put in different plates, and these planters to paint on the size of the seed you're going to plant. and it draws a vacuum. So there's air. Benjamin P Werling: If this is the whole, there's air coming this way. Benjamin P Werling: it sucks the seat up Benjamin P Werling: and sticks it to that whole. and when it drops Benjamin P Werling: when it's time for that seed to go down. The vacuum releases dropping the seed into the pharaoh. And so that is kind of the ultimate and precision. Benjamin P Werling: and you get you get basically Benjamin P Werling: you get a crap. It's all the same size at once. The other thing I wanted to show you real quick. Benjamin P Werling: We can see it. Benjamin P Werling: You can see that the planter Benjamin P Werling: is building up these ridges Benjamin P Werling: for the carrots, and so that's something I've seen done in Michigan, too, I think, primarily for drainage. but that betting process also makes that soil Benjamin P Werling: light and fluffy. and it kind of like a ben. And I actually did some work showing that that improves root length and carrots. Benjamin P Werling: It's right here. So fresh market carrots, you can have 600,000 seats per acre. I might have that wrong. Benjamin P Werling: But a lot. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: Is this going to talk a bit about planting the different types of seed? Benjamin P Werling: These jang seaters work really well for radish because they have a nice round seed, and you can get one per hole. Benjamin P Werling: And, by the way, good time to drop into the chat your favorite planter. I've used them for beats, too. Benjamin P Werling: but he had to do out of thinning. Benjamin P Werling: and for carrots, unless they're powered, they don't work well. Benjamin P Werling: and that brings up penalty. When you have an irregularly shaped, see that's not nice and round like a carrot seat. What the C Company can do is build up some clay around the seed to make it rounder. Benjamin P Werling: and that can make it easier for some of these planters to singulate. which it means just pick up one seat at a time. Benjamin P Werling: Otherwise what can happen is you can drop 2 carat seeds in the whole. Benjamin P Werling: and in get Benjamin P Werling: you have to do a lot of thinning. Benjamin P Werling: Abigail uses the Earthway planter Benjamin P Werling: again. Benjamin P Werling: You guys have probably seen this book. If you have it. It's called the Market Gardener. It's written from an organic perspective. Benjamin P Werling: and it talks a lot about using that Earthway planter, because it is really it's economical. Benjamin P Werling: and if you have any tips on using it, Abigail, drop them in the chat, please. Benjamin P Werling: so you can purchase powdered carrot seed and also beat seed. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: Now we get to some cool biology that I think Ben and I are. It's fine, fascinating Benjamin P Werling: beats are unique, and at the plant, if you look at them, this is the mama plant. Here on the left the flowers can fuse together. Benjamin P Werling: One flower makes one seed. Benjamin P Werling: They fuse together, and so you can have multiple embryos, multiple baby plants Benjamin P Werling: within one. See, Cluster. Benjamin P Werling: And so Benjamin P Werling: and it can depend. It can depend on the variety or even the seed lab. So you can have 4 embryos views together. That means this: one plant seeds going to make Benjamin P Werling: for plants. 3 or 2, or you could have what's called a monojourn variety. with just one beat seat. Benjamin P Werling: one beat embryo. and here's what that looks like. So this seed had 2 embryos to use together. and it's going to make 2 baby beat seeds. Benjamin P Werling: So what that means is that your plant population isn't seeds per acre anymore in a carrot. If you put down 600,000 seeds per acre. Benjamin P Werling: lap off a chat because not some will Germany. But you're going to get close to 600,000 carrots Benjamin P Werling: with a beat seed because it's a cluster. You're gonna get a lot more than that. Benjamin P Werling: And that's one reason why growing sugar beats, which is the same species. was one of the most labor-intensive craps way back in the day. and so what they would have to do Benjamin P Werling: and say, plant. they plant the seed. It's a multi germs seed. and people would have to go out and ho! So every so many Benjamin P Werling: the they'd ho out some of the beats. and then people would have to get down to their hands and needs, and thin out the cluster that remained. Benjamin P Werling: and I think that was probably a miserable job. Benjamin P Werling: And so what that does is try to get you to that more consistent Benjamin P Werling: size, range and plants per acre population. Now, what the sugar bee industry did is a Benjamin P Werling: they bred what's called the manager seed Benjamin P Werling: if you look at the lower right here. So now all sugar beat, see just as one embryo. Benjamin P Werling: So they don't have to do that anymore. Benjamin P Werling: On the table. Beat front. We do have mono German varieties like Manetta. Benjamin P Werling: but for some reason that many people grow I mean, I don't. I don't know the answer to that. Benjamin P Werling: And you guys might. Most folks will grow multiderm seed. Benjamin P Werling: And so what that means is that on a small scale for your market grower. thinning is going to be part of beat growing. Benjamin P Werling: and what folks will do is they could team it up with weeding Benjamin P Werling: so they'll go out once. The beats are big enough. they'll thin that. but they also pull out small weeds in the road that they can't get by cultivating to try and add some value to that worker time. Benjamin P Werling: and depending on the size beat that you want, you can thin it to different levels. So if you wanted a baby beat you might want a lot more per foot. Then, if you want a big beat. Benjamin P Werling: Oh, Ben, it looks interesting. I'm gonna have to read that later. Benjamin P Werling: So there is another way to do this. So if you look at large scale beat production. Benjamin P Werling: It's just not economical to do thinning. Benjamin P Werling: and something that growers will do, especially in Benjamin P Werling: Wisconsin. where they want a uniform size for processing. They'll use what's called the sprout count Benjamin P Werling: to adjust their sewing density. And basically Benjamin P Werling: what that does. You can do this yourself. Benjamin P Werling: And one procedure to do this is to plant Benjamin P Werling: some of those seed clusters. Plant a known number in some sand, so let's say 20, Benjamin P Werling: and then count the number of seedlings that grow up. Benjamin P Werling: and if you get 60 ceilings from 20 seats, your sprout count is 3, Benjamin P Werling: and once you know that you can do some math to adjust your sewing density to get the number of plants per acre. You want. Benjamin P Werling: Dan Brainer, your professor at Msu hit a really nice article on this Benjamin P Werling: in vegetables. It basically showed you Benjamin P Werling: given what your sprout count is, what your se. So in density should be to achieve a certain type of beat. You don't need to look at the table now, but Benjamin P Werling: maybe if I can locate it, I can dred it up for people. Benjamin P Werling: Great question, Barry. Benjamin P Werling: There's one reason I know for sure. Bt germination can be spaty. and there could be others. Benjamin P Werling: One is crusty. Benjamin P Werling: Radishes come out of the ground with a lot of they. They just pop out Benjamin P Werling: so crust isn't as big a deal for them. But for beats and carrots Benjamin P Werling: it can be in a crusting. What happens with crusting, especially in heavy soils is this rain. Traps come down. Benjamin P Werling: A heavy rain will bust to part. Soil aggregates into tiny pieces. so it's kind of like taking it a rack and breaking it into cement. Benjamin P Werling: and then when it dries rapidly, it's going to turn into cement. Benjamin P Werling: so that Tiny seedly Benjamin P Werling: is now trying to push up. They're really tough surface crest. and not all of them are going to come up. Benjamin P Werling: And so one way to combat this is is to apply Benjamin P Werling: no more of an a quarter inch of wider. Benjamin P Werling: consistently Benjamin P Werling: through through germination. to try and help with that to get more even germination. Benjamin P Werling: Now Benjamin P Werling: your observation is not unique. Benjamin P Werling: And, in fact, if you look at the market gardener. or if you talk to one of the growers I serve. some of them will transplant beats Benjamin P Werling: because they've gotten tired of that inconsistency. Others will use what's called Benjamin P Werling: seat, guard, fabric, or frost clot. so Benjamin P Werling: to put fabric down over the bed, or Benjamin P Werling: row that worms up the the soil somewhat and gives you more even germination. Benjamin P Werling: Ben, do you know any other reasons why B. C. Germination can be spaty? Benjamin W Phillips: I can't. I can't come up with many more other than environmental conditions Benjamin W Phillips: or old seed. If you're working with old seed, perhaps you've got lack of germ going on. Benjamin W Phillips: Sometimes seeds will germinate and then die in a way that if you didn't Benjamin W Phillips: watch it happen, you might think they never germinated. To begin with. for some reason in my experience with growing beats in the summer time, where you're seating for like a fall harvest. Benjamin W Phillips: and i'm not. The first person to observe this birds seem to like Benjamin W Phillips: the the the the first, the first leaves that come out of the ground of beats. This I don't know why. I wish they'd do that to like amaranth, or something like that. But Benjamin W Phillips: they chew up the the seed leaves of beats pretty quickly. Some birds like sparrows and stuff at a garden level. This has been observed by more than just me. It might be one reason Benjamin W Phillips: you you're not getting a good germ. Benjamin P Werling: so Ken has some really good absor, really good tips. Thanks for sharing that. Ken Benjamin P Werling: basically gave us a recipe for transplanting beats. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, and that's one of the reasons you would grow beats is a transplant for an early crap. so you can start them in the greenhouse. and when you get within, say, 3 weeks of the last frustrating Benjamin P Werling: or whatever it is. You can put those plants out there, but they'll have a head start. and you can get that early crap. Thank you ken Benjamin P Werling: I want to talk a little bit more about. We control Benjamin P Werling: here. It's a really slow, germinating crat. Beats are kind of in between, and radishes are super fast. Benjamin P Werling: So one of the unique things you can do with carrots, though it's because they take a while to germinate and weeds Germany faster. Benjamin P Werling: There's a period when the weeds will be up with the carrots are not. And so what organic growers can do is something called flaming. Benjamin P Werling: and there's many versions of flamers there's handheld ones There's kind of medium scale ones like this that go into a three-point hitch on a tractor. and then there's large scale ones Benjamin P Werling: and what you do is you watch the crap. Benjamin P Werling: You let it get to the stage where there's we teach Germany. But the carrots are now, and they burn off the weeds with the flamer Benjamin P Werling: works even better. If you can do that multiple times with a stale seed bed approach. Benjamin P Werling: You can even plant some radish seeds out there, because those will come up before the carrots. And what's those? Benjamin P Werling: It's a signal that it's time to go out and flame. So you Don't Benjamin P Werling: Nick, the carrots. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. And this is kind of what I was talking about. Barry. That cresting can be an issue and carrot and beat. Benjamin P Werling: If you look. This is a tiny carrot seedling. They did, and those seeds are small. They don't come out of the ground with as much energy as a large seeded, vegetable. Benjamin P Werling: And so a crust can be a problem even on sandy soils where I like, where I work It's what the growers will do. There Benjamin P Werling: they had these big center pivot systems that you might see driving around. Benjamin P Werling: They'll run those and sprinkle on, you know, just about a quarter inch a day or something Benjamin P Werling: or less, and keep that soil surface moist. so the seeds can pop easier. So here's a picture where they did that with soybean seed. or they kept that soil moist. It must have been a heavier sale to help them Pat. Benjamin P Werling: You wouldn't use trickle irrigation, but I think they're just doing a study Benjamin P Werling: All right. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: Going back to that Goldilock zone. A lot of the disorders or problems that you can have in these craps Benjamin P Werling: are related to uneven growing conditions or or extreme ones. Benjamin P Werling: So in radishes and carrots, if you have periods where it's dry. and then you have a lot of soil moisture. They can crack in radish. If you get high temperatures Benjamin P Werling: they can get pithy that is hard in the middle. or even be especially pungent. Benjamin P Werling: and some of that's related to uneven soil moisture. So if you can use irrigation to keep that Benjamin P Werling: so in moisture consistent. you can alleviate some of those problems Benjamin P Werling: zoning, it beats. Is another example that's more related to high temperatures. Benjamin P Werling: And what happens is. Benjamin P Werling: you got 2 types of conducting tissue and the root beat the beat root. Benjamin P Werling: and in one type when it's hide out. For some reason the pigment doesn't accumulate. and so you get these alternating white Benjamin P Werling: in red rings, kind of like tree rings. Benjamin P Werling: Now in a candy stripe beat. That's what you want. But in for processing like for pickling. Benjamin P Werling: that's not something processors like. Benjamin P Werling: and some of these things can be related to variety. They may not be resistant, but some will do it more than others. And so that's where your own observations on your farm are helpful. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: there was an something in the Q. A. Earlier about nematodes. These are a problem in root craps, Marso and carrots and parsnips. Benjamin P Werling: They can be a problem, and other route crepts, though, too. And Benjamin P Werling: and what happens is in carrots in particular. In person. The nematode will injure the growing point. and I mentioned. It's like trim in the bush. If you Benjamin P Werling: if you go out and trim a bud off of a bush outside, it'll get bush here Benjamin P Werling: because it's last what's called apical dominance. The plant doesn't know that that. But is where it wants to grow now like this. All the sales in the plant could say, I want to be a but no, I want to be a but Benjamin P Werling: it's the same in the roots, and so you get these sprangles. and that's because of something in some cases called the root net nematode. Benjamin P Werling: which can be a problem. If you grow broad-leaf. Benjamin P Werling: they can build up to a point where it's really tough to grow carrots. Benjamin P Werling: The nice thing about route-nine amplitude is it? Doesn't like grasses? And so, if you can grow. Benjamin P Werling: if root craps are really important on your phone. You can grow like a grass crap like sweetcorn. We right. barley. And even one year of that Benjamin P Werling: can be really helpful. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, and I agree, Barry, why not sell them? As Toyoga beats their candy straight beats Benjamin P Werling: so because the roots Benjamin P Werling: things that aren't a bother, for when we' harvesting the above ground. Portion of plants Benjamin P Werling: can bug us. So when you have insects that feed on the roots, and custom tunneling makes them unmarketable Benjamin P Werling: out of the craps we're talking about today. Benjamin P Werling: That is worse in the radishes Benjamin P Werling: because they get a pest called cabbage. Make it. Benjamin P Werling: The flies will seek out Brussels, lay their eggs, especially in the spring. and then make it so. Time, tunnel in the rits. Benjamin P Werling: There's something called Carrot wevo that you can get in carrots and Celeriac. Benjamin P Werling: It only feeds on plants in that family. I'm hoping that none of you have it because it's a beast to deal with. And then this picture is just something that makes me happy. Benjamin P Werling: It's like a cute little bird house with the scare beetle grub. hey? Peeking out to say hello. Benjamin P Werling: but on the beetle larva right. I should mention wireworms because they can be a problem unlike cabbage, mega and carrot, leave it, which are host. Specific Benjamin P Werling: wire worms are less so. and Benjamin P Werling: where you can especially have problems is when you have some turf or hey. Benjamin P Werling: they really like grassroots. You work in under, and you plant. Benjamin P Werling: and they're some of the they, like the tortoise of the insect of the Benjamin P Werling: root crap, pest world. They can live for multiple years. And so, even though you told under that gris crap a while ago. Benjamin P Werling: or that said. You can hit Why, we're in problems for multiple years like I've also seen it happen where a field that's consistently weed a year after year. If it's happened in our trials. Benjamin P Werling: Where I would care about is the bugs you know, care about the weeds. but we built up wire. Benjamin P Werling: and they're really nasty. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin W Phillips: Hey, Ben, there's 2 2 questions kind of floating in here. One is in the Q. A. About Benjamin W Phillips: marigold is a cover crop for me. Nematodes. I'm not sure if you have thing to share there and then Benjamin W Phillips: questions about the maggots again on turnips. Benjamin P Werling: Oh. Benjamin P Werling: okay. Benjamin P Werling: I am going to take Benjamin P Werling: Kathleen. I know I I don't know if this is an answer. Benjamin P Werling: your question on that, or if it's feasible. Benjamin P Werling: but on a small scale. Benjamin P Werling: The most effective thing to do. Benjamin P Werling: Come as to take some insect netting which you can purchase at Johnny's on a bigger scale. There are some companies. There's one in Quebec, called the Boy's Egg sounds bigger. Benjamin P Werling: rose of it. Benjamin P Werling: and after you sell the turn ups. Benjamin P Werling: put that cloth down. Benjamin P Werling: and the plants will push them up. Benjamin P Werling: and what it does is keep the flies from even getting to the crap in the first place, and laying eggs. Benjamin P Werling: and I've seen it where we did a trial, where, outside of the cover Benjamin P Werling: everything was junk. It was this nasty Benjamin P Werling: under the cover. Really beautiful turnips. The key there, though, is, you got to do it on ground that didn't have brassicas Benjamin P Werling: recently. because if you do that, the little the pest is overwintering the soil as a pupa. and the fies will just emerge under the fabric, and you have a bonanza. Benjamin P Werling: But insect netting is Benjamin P Werling: the most effective way to deal with those and Benjamin P Werling: The insect netting versus the frostcloth is nice because it allows for more airflow. So It' alleviate some of the heat problems. You can have one here. We planted turnips that we're getting big in June. Benjamin P Werling: and they were under their first class. It was getting Super had under there, and I don't think they liked it. But the insect, Nettie. it's more breathable. Benjamin P Werling: I've got some pictures of it if you're interested. Benjamin P Werling: but I know that market growers. That's what they'll use, and it's effective. Benjamin P Werling: There's pesticides. But even the most Benjamin P Werling: toxic stuff does it do a great job? Soil pets are hard to control with pesticides. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: French miracles. It's a cover crat I, one of my grade school committee members, looked at that. Did potato rotations. I don't have the answer to that. Benjamin P Werling: I don't know if that worked well Benjamin W Phillips: in my brief reading. Since the question was posed to us, Ben. Benjamin W Phillips: it it would appear that Benjamin W Phillips: the marigolds do Benjamin W Phillips: attract Benjamin W Phillips: the nematodes, and it would only make sense if you were able to Benjamin W Phillips: have enough time for them to enter the marigolds, to then kill the marigolds Benjamin W Phillips: before the planting of the susceptible crop, and one resource I found, suggest that it's as long as 2 months. which might be hard to get a crop of marigolds, followed by a crop of carrots within the same season. Benjamin W Phillips: No. perhaps that could be something that is Benjamin W Phillips: over a winter like marigolds in the summer, and then you go through a winter, and then you put carrots in that same field the next year. Benjamin W Phillips: Perhaps I think I need to do some more reading, though Benjamin P Werling: that but that brings up a really interesting point that I think is fascinating. Benjamin P Werling: So I work with salary growers. I get to work with salary growers. Benjamin P Werling: and they will swap ground with the reddish grower. Benjamin P Werling: and one of the reasons they do that is that radishes are attractive to root net nematode. Benjamin P Werling: But when it's warm enough they'll mature in 20 days. which is longer than it takes a root net nematode to mature. Benjamin P Werling: And so what you can do is you you track the little nematode. It's growing, and it goes. It gets yanked out of the ground Benjamin P Werling: before it can lay eggs. Benjamin P Werling: So that's it. Salary growers, do it. Benjamin P Werling: and there's a reason they do it. So it's an interesting way to think about getting a marketable crap. Benjamin P Werling: Cool, Kathy. Benjamin P Werling: Here, here's something I will say, knowing the biology of the nematode you're dealing with can be really helpful. And so, if you're getting. I didn't talk about it a lot. Benjamin P Werling: If you see on the right here all those nabs you can kind of see. This root looks really nabby. I'm curious to look a little different. You'll see on the root. Here's little balls Benjamin P Werling: that's a root net, and i'm a toad. and Benjamin P Werling: the most effective way to deal with them is to plant a grass. Benjamin P Werling: and you can get. I've heard figures of like 60 to 70% reduction with one year of a grass crap. Benjamin P Werling: If you do 2 years you can get even better. Benjamin P Werling: and it could be any grass. It could be as simple as sorghum's, dand grass. which can hold your ground the whole season, and add some organic matter. Benjamin P Werling: It could be Benjamin P Werling: accord it could be we, it could be barley right? Benjamin P Werling: And for the cool thing about the grass, is it doesn't matter? Benjamin P Werling: It's not about if you make it. So you don't need to incorporate it to put it into the plant. For some reason the app toads are folk fueled the x hatch because they oh, there's plant roots. Benjamin P Werling: But then the little nematodes go there, and they die because they can't feed on grassroots, and I don't know why they're a non-host so it's not like the radish where you have to Benjamin P Werling: remove. or like a mustard bio. If you make it, you have to put into the soil Benjamin P Werling: all you got to do is grow the grass crap. Benjamin P Werling: and think about getting. We controlled, too, because the broadly weeds are also hosts. Benjamin P Werling: But like for Sergeant Sudan. Benjamin P Werling: if you plant a high enough density. I've heard our specialists talk about that being a key you can get good we control. Benjamin P Werling: If you don't plan enough of this Oregon. The weeds will come up, and they could be a host. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: but you could grow popcorn. You could grow Benjamin P Werling: Indian corn. You could figure out something that will give you a marketable crap, but still Benjamin P Werling: provide a benefit. Benjamin P Werling: or you could do 2 things at once, like soargon. Benjamin P Werling: produces a ton of biomass, which is good for organic matter. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: there are also some soil born diseases. Benjamin P Werling: and these tend to build up where you're growing. Roo, crap after root crap Benjamin P Werling: and the take home message. Here is Don't grow. Benjamin P Werling: So there's rise Actonia, which is the number one problem for radish growers. It can also cause cavity spat, and carrots Benjamin P Werling: both beats and skin. Sorry potatoes can get scab and be to get these words Benjamin P Werling: potatoes. It looks different. Benjamin P Werling: And so, basically Benjamin P Werling: not having a root on root crap rotation can help, you know. Benjamin P Werling: trying to provide some space between potatoes and beats, for example. on a large scale, what can be really helpful for some of these diseases as well is a small grain. Benjamin P Werling: But basically. Benjamin P Werling: and there's other reasons to do this. Don't grow roots, roots for its roots, you know, grow Some roots grow, some shoots Benjamin P Werling: grow, some fruits. Just don't grow, all the same thing. and i'll help with some of these problems. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Ben, are we running out of time? Benjamin P Werling: Holy smokes? Benjamin W Phillips: Yeah. Ask people if they want. I put the somebody asked specifically for the survey. They might have to go, so I put it in the chat. Benjamin P Werling: Okay, yeah, I have time to ask people what they would like. So folks would you like to continue, or would you like to wrap it up? Benjamin P Werling: Okay, we got a mix. So i'd say, folks who need to go should go and folks who want to stay and stay. That's the beauty of the virtual format. No one sees you leaving church early Benjamin P Werling: to get a good seat at the restaurant. Benjamin W Phillips: That that's a perfect analogy. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. they already kind of talked about. This Benjamin P Werling: rotation can be really important. Just don't grow roo, crap after root crap. Benjamin P Werling: Another really important thing. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, maybe this is more for larger scale growers. But don't. if you have a soil, barn disease and Benjamin P Werling: try not to put Benjamin P Werling: and you're sorting out calls and a packing light. Don't dump those calls back in your production field because it'll carry the disease around. and with the soil burn diseases. Benjamin P Werling: The problem moves with the soil. So try not to move contaminated soil to another feel. Benjamin P Werling: because one of the main only real, effective ways to deal with those diseases is resistant variety. So we don't have those for all diseases. I hope you never get it. But there's a disease of Benjamin P Werling: be it's called grizzomania. and it literally means crazy roots. because you get these giant bearded roots Benjamin P Werling: that are fill up with soil and are kind of ugly. You can see, though, that resistant varieties look a lot better. Benjamin P Werling: and it's really the best way to deal with those problems just not always available. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. there are some folio diseases radish. Get radishes. Get fo your diseases, too. Benjamin P Werling: but they're so quick that they can kind of escape them. Carrots can get something called Sir Kaspar and alternaria. When you get these little circular lesions. That's Benjamin P Werling: alternaria kind of creakles the edges of the leaves. Benjamin P Werling: But the problem is when you get lesions on the pdos like this. Benjamin P Werling: and that's the biggest problem. When you have you harvest using a puller Benjamin P Werling: because the pedals will break and you leave the carrot in the ground or the beat. Benjamin P Werling: It's also a problem if you're growing them for bunching. Benjamin P Werling: But if you're tapping them, you're moving that that ugly stuff. Benjamin P Werling: If it gets bad enough it can't affect you. Benjamin P Werling: but it's especially concerned when you're selling them for bunching. Benjamin P Werling: or you're pulling them with the harvester Benjamin P Werling: beats. Get through Kaspara. They also get other for your diseases Benjamin P Werling: and growers will manage them with a bunch of sites. but they don't seem super concerned about them if they're not growing them for bunchy. Benjamin P Werling: but they are concerned if those leaves are going along with the beat. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, the ridesomania does affect the sugar content of the beat. Benjamin P Werling: though I had eaten some, and they pickled up just fine. Benjamin P Werling: The only way I could see that a small scare grower could be worried about it is, if you buy equipment like an old beat, Harvester Benjamin P Werling: from another of unknown provenance. Maybe it was on a sugar beet firing back in the day Benjamin P Werling: for a red red beat firm. Benjamin P Werling: You basically just want to power, wash it clean. It really good to not introduce the problem to your ground. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: So all of these craps, radishes, beats, and carrots can be harvested mechanically. using lipters and pullers. Benjamin P Werling: And this video is from Benjamin P Werling: the farm up my way. It's a machine from Denmark called the asyl Lift. You can harvest, beats with it Benjamin P Werling: as well as carrots. You can't see there's like there's 2 points at loosen the soil. Benjamin P Werling: The carrots get pulled up by the tap. The tap gets cut and they get dropped into a hopper. Benjamin P Werling: And there are similar harvesters. You guys might have heard of Scott Viners that you can use for this purpose they all rely on the same principle. Benjamin P Werling: Yeah, Good. Benjamin P Werling: Absolutely. This is huge anonymous attendee. Benjamin P Werling: That's a great point. Benjamin P Werling: Prevention is what we're so same Prevention is worth an announce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Yeah. Benjamin P Werling: the problem is, it takes time. But if you can clean and sanitize equipment between blacks of plots or fields that have a similar history Benjamin P Werling: that can help limit the spread of soil, burn disease absolutely. Benjamin P Werling: So you can also hand harvest all of these crops for bunching. You have to hand harvest. Benjamin P Werling: but you can do it regardless. So some of the growers that I work with Benjamin P Werling: They will use old sheep shears to tap their beats. Benjamin P Werling: and there's pros and cons to this. It costs more Benjamin P Werling: to get them out of the field, and it's slower. Benjamin P Werling: But it's easier for smaller farms. Those workers are multi purpose, unlike the machine. and then they could do a lot of other tests on the farm. Benjamin P Werling: Another pro is that you can do some sorting and topping in the field. Benjamin P Werling: so that when you take them out of the field you've got a closer to finished product. And so one grower does that because they want to reduce the time they need in the packing shed. Benjamin P Werling: It's also better for bunch craps or things like turn ups that get bruised. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: so reddish is Don't store super? Well. except for those winter or daycine vanishes. But carrots and beats can. and some growers will store them over a period of time Benjamin P Werling: to market them in the winter. Benjamin P Werling: He there's I heard a grower talk researcher talk once about storage. Benjamin P Werling: and I was hoping for a magical solution to allow our carrots to last forever. Benjamin P Werling: His first slide, said: the key is Benjamin P Werling: to temperature Successful storage is. There's 3 temperature, temperature, and temperature. Benjamin P Werling: because those products are living. and the longer it takes for them to get cooled off. the more they dehydrate and the more sugar they burn. and so what can it amount to if you have time Benjamin P Werling: harvesting these root craps on a cool day Benjamin P Werling: or in the morning means they're going into the cold storage with less heat. Benjamin P Werling: They're they're going to dehydrate less. I'm gonna have less problems once they're in storage. Benjamin P Werling: These craps in general, like it relatively cool beats in carrots. They're They're designed to over winter because they're biennials and so keeping it Benjamin P Werling: a little bit above freezing with relatively high humidity is ideal Benjamin P Werling: carrots can definitely store and be marketed over winter as can be. I want to point you to an awesome, free resource Benjamin P Werling: that is, Here's a QR. Code for it Benjamin P Werling: called on firm code storage Benjamin P Werling: put out by Wisconsin. Benjamin P Werling: The thing I really like about it is, it's got case studies from farms. It talks about the pros and cons of what they did. Benjamin P Werling: Another thing that to kind of see time and time again is that a lot of problems and storage are coming from the field. And so these are some personips Benjamin P Werling: that we're probably infected with the disease in the field. Benjamin P Werling: Things always get worse in storage. They don't get better. And so by this point Benjamin P Werling: things and we're looking pretty fuzzy in that good. Benjamin P Werling: and so the better. Benjamin P Werling: So what's under your control? One thing is damage to the root Benjamin P Werling: the better. You treat a beetroot or a carrot and avoid getting abrasion to it the better it's going to store. Benjamin P Werling: I mentioned bunch versus tapped Benjamin P Werling: bunched carrots, beats, and radishes are for immediate sale. Benjamin P Werling: They don't store very well. They They may list Benjamin P Werling: 10 days or something like that. You guys might know better than me. Benjamin P Werling: but they're really a fresh product. whereas tapped product can be stored a bit longer. Some crabs are stored better dirty. so carrots and beats the growers. Benjamin P Werling: Some growers, I know, will store them dirty. and then take them out of storage as needed, and wash them. Benjamin P Werling: Now that all depends on your operation. Benjamin P Werling: but that can be helpful. Benjamin P Werling: Okay. Benjamin P Werling: And there's really a variety of ways to get to cold storage. There's cool bats which basically Benjamin P Werling: just rely on an insulated room with a a controller and an old air conditioner. Some Benjamin P Werling: take old refers and modify them for code storage. Some folks have walking coolers. and they can all work. Benjamin P Werling: But the big question to think about is it going to pay for your Benjamin P Werling: Because storing a crap takes energy in terms of an electrical bill Benjamin P Werling: in time. Benjamin P Werling: And so the question is, Are you going to get attract more customers because you have that product longer. or get a premium for having something a bit longer. Benjamin P Werling: and it's an economic decision If it doesn't pay the directly electrical bill Oops. Benjamin P Werling: don't do it. Benjamin P Werling: Okay.