few things are healthier than carrots and beets. My carrots look good but currently I am only picking beets (and cukes, and beans, and turnips). Chioggia beets for that matter, the red ones are still untouched. I love to eat the whole plant, steam the tops and eat the grated roots in a salad.

Peter... which purple carrot do you grow?

Eat grated roots in a salad... raw?

The purple carrots are Purple Haze. The orange are Bolero.

I did see some carrot fly damage on some of the roots. Nothing major, but that doesn't bode well for my fall carrots. According to Cornell's published dates, the fly is very early this year.

Nice stuff Peter!

I picked 5 similar-sized beets a few days ago, yum! I am jealous of the foliage on yours though; mine is absolutely decimated by leaf miners and I won't get to eat any.

Great harvest Peter! Your carrots did much better than mine. Are you going to pickle any of those beets? My brother in Wisconsin called me on Saturday and was in the middle of pickling a few dozen red beets but his gold beets still had some sizing up to do.

My root crops were all harvested by the end of June but I do still have some carrots left and probably about 40 lbs. of potatoes in basement storage. I will be sowing my fall carrots this weekend (Bolero, Napoli, and Danvers half long) with the hope of keeping them from burning up in August.

I am having a tomato bonanza now...since July 7 I have harvested 79 off of 5 plants for a 37 lb. total! The plants still have at least 50-60 left from the first flush and the second flush that set when we had a cooler spell in late June are starting to get some size. Without that second flush they would have been like determinates and I would be pulling the plants in a couple weeks. I used ~25 to make some Annie's salsa on Sunday.

Yeah, my tomatoes suck this year. Glad you are having a great harvest. :)

We are going to roast and freeze some of the beets. I don't think we will pickle them.

isgen, to be honest at this point in the summer the greens aren't very good. Leafminers love my columbine, maybe try planting some as a trap crop?

Row covers. Leaf miners and carrot rust flies won't be a problem if you use them.

Rodney

Rodney, I can throw a row cover over my carrots easily, but it is currently 95F... shouldn't I be concerned it is going to get too hot?

You can get some tulle at the fabric store and it should work fine. It is only about $1.50 per yard and the bolts I think are 6' wide. Comes in many colors too!

Yeah, I used the term row covers in a general sense. Obviously one wouldn't use a heavy row cover used for frost protection in the middle of summer. I meant a very lightweight row cover or insect fabric/barrier. Tulle is another option.

Rodney

Even the AG19 I have raises the temp quite a bit, according to the packaging. I will try the tulle, sounds like a great inexpensive option.

Peter, yes, our winter salads are some combination of raw grated carrots, grated beets, sliced cabbage, mixed together, but we make them in summer too. We use graters (two of them) that make inch+ long shreds, and add olive oil vinegar and herb salt. We also grate daikon and turnip. If you have either red cabbage, beet and/or carrot in it, there is plenty of color. I use grated roots in sauerkauts too.