in other words
january24
Diggin’ in the Dirt: Parsnips Can Surprise You
By Chip Bubl
Oregon State University
Extension Service - Columbia County
Grafting Workshop
We will have our annual grafting
workshop Saturday, February 11th
from 9 am – 12 at the Extension office
in St. Helens. Space is limited. Call
for reservations (503 397-3462). Cost
will be $15 and will include five dwarf
apple rootstocks. If you have a favorite
apple tree that you want copies of, take
some 12” cuttings from last season’s
growth (about pencil thickness), using
the middle third of the shoots. Bundle
and label the cuttings and place them
in plastic bag and store them in the
refrigerator until the workshop. Free
cuttings will be available of a number of
other good apple varieties.
Row covers will be available again
The interest in row covers
continues to increase. For those of you
that missed the buzz, row covers are
made from a gauzy fabric. They come in
twelve-foot widths and, when we cut the
roll, in lengths of 50 or 100 feet. Row
covers are used in vegetable production
on farms and home gardens.
They serve several purposes:
• Covers increase temperatures around
transplants and growing plants by 4-6
degrees during the day and 3-4 degrees
at night. This is valuable heat in the
spring and fall.
• Seeds planted under row covers aren’t
seen by crows.
• Soils warm with the covers but don’t
crust, so seed emergence is faster and
more even.
• Covers can be left with enough slack
so that broccoli-sized plants can grow
tall underneath them.
• Covers can keep insects out like carrot
rust flies and cabbage root maggots.
However, slugs prosper under covers
so slug controls are needed. Weeds also
like it under cover, so persistent weeding
pays.
Last year we sold, in 50 or 100
foot pieces, about a mile (!!) of cover.
This year we are selling one ounce
covers versus the half ounce ones of last
year. This will raise the cost to $35 for
a 12 x 100’ piece or $18 for a 50’ one.
The benefit of the heavier piece is that
there is a little better heat retention and
the fabric is stronger and
less likely to rip. You cut
them down further to fit
your gardening needs.
Call our office (503 397-
3462) if you want some.
It went fast last year.
Chilling requirement
satisfied, some buds are
swelling
You
have
probably noticed how
many woody plants
show signs of active bud
swelling. We have had
enough cold weather
to satisfy their chilling
requirement (an amount of time exposed
to temperatures below 42°). Given a
little bit of warmer weather and they
could get really enthused about growing.
Then if we get a serious cold snap (15°
or less) there could be a lot of plants in
trouble.
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CELL: 503-313-9006
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planted them in mid August and then
pulled a couple several months later
and found they were small and twisted.
He mentally filed them in the mistake
category. But we have had an interesting
fall. Our parsnip gardener noticed the
plants had continued to grow. He dug a
Sick or Cranky Firearm? I Can Help!
The Extension Service offers its programs
and materials equally to all people.
Free newsletter
The Oregon State University
Extension office in Columbia County
publishes a monthly
newsletter on gardening
and farming topics (called
County Living) written/
edited by yours truly. All
you need to do is ask for
it and it will be mailed
to you. Call 503 397-
3462 to be put on the list.
Alternatively, you can find
it on the web at
http://extension.
oregonstate.edu/columbia/
and click on newsletters.
Contact information for
the Extension office:
Oregon State University
Extension Service – Columbia County
505 N. Columbia River Highway (across
from the Legacy clinic)
St. Helens, OR 97051
503 397-3462
Email: chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu
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7
couple plants and found exceptionally
nice roots. When cooked, he described
the resulting dinner dish as “absolutely
melt-in-your-mouth delicious and
creamy”. That parsnip flavor improved
after cold exposure wasn’t a surprise.
What is a surprise to both of us is
the amount of growing they did in
November and December. But this is
why we garden.
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Path Health Ser
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vi
Na
tu
Parsnips can surprise you
As you know, parsnips have
a reputation for being something of
a challenge to grow. They are slow
to germinate, need well-dug soil to
produce nice roots, and usually need to
be harvested before the carrot rust fly
larva or field mice finish them. Yet early
harvest doesn’t allow them the cold
exposure that can greatly enhance the
flavor and sweetness of parsnips.
But recently, I just got an email
from a local gardener who had started
some parsnips in 4-inch pots. Then he
sort of forgot about them though he
watered enough that they were still
alive but horribly root bound. He finally
2012
Dr. Carol McIntyre
Naturopathic & Chinese Medicine
Owned and Operated by
Don & Kim Wallace
503.429.3928
cccmnd@yahoo.com
naturalpathhealthservices.com
786 Bridge Street
Vernonia, OR, 97064
