Ideas for community gardens < roots

A community gardener with a harvest of root crops. (photo: Glovers Community Garden, Sydney; mid-1990s).

EDIBLE ROOTS... for the community garden

Root crops are a concentrated source of dietary carbohydrates and proteins. They are among humanity’s oldest crops.

Edible roots are suitable in community gardens:

• with shared gardening space for root crops which grow as spreading vines
• with larger allotments of a size to cope with spreading vines
• with smaller allotments in which root crops with a shrub growth form, such as potato, can be grown.

Root crops come in both annual and perennial forms (perennials are those taking longer than two years to produce a crop).

For community gardeners, the root crops offer:

• a concentrated source of nutritional, carbohydrate-rich 'energy food'
• a source of botanical interest where the less common species are grown
• a way to make use of unused garden space.

Some of these root crops are difficult to find in nurseries. In Australia, you may be able to mail order them from:

Green Harvest

PO Box 92
MALENY QLD 4552
Australia
PH: 07 54352699
FAX: 07 54999791
FREECALL: 1800 681014

http://www.greenharvest.com.au/

Send an

Ask for their catalog.

Some crops are available only at particular times of the year.

Design

• annual root crops can be planted in the annual garden bed or allotment, depending on size
• root crops form one of the components of a crop rotation system with leaf, fruiting and leguminous crops
• in the southern hemisphere, locate the annual vegetable garden on the northern (sunward) side so as to maximise exposure to sunlight.

Managing your root crops

To keep your root crops healthy:

• protect them from strong and cold winds
• provide plenty of water but do not over-water
• monitor them for plant diseases and insect pests
• maintain soil fertility by adding compost and mulch.

Notes on the plant description

growth form: sizes given are for mature plants and are approximate only – the size a plant will grow to depends on microclimate, watering, soil fertility and the incidence of insects pests and plant diseases

botanic name: these are the names botanists and horticulturists use to identify plants; sometimes, a single plant will have more than one common name, leading to difficulty in identifying it; there is only one botanic name so it is a more reliable way to identify a plant.

spp: abbreviation for ‘species’ which denotes a particular plant variety

family: a larger grouping of plants, all with some characteristic in common, into which plants are classified

propagation: how plants are started

• vegetative reproduction is started from a cutting or a sprouting root such as a rhizome or tuber

centre of diversity: the region where the plant originated and from where it spread.

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PAGE UPDATED... Sunday, 4 February 2007