Rutabaga Under Cover

 

I just finished reading this girl Jackie's blog.  She made a commitment to post every single day during the year 2011.  I enjoyed reliving 2011 through her eyes, and was inspired by her writing.  Plus, she's funny!  Why can't I be so funny?  Probably because I write about rutabaga.  There's only so much humor to be found in a root vegetable.  Even knowing I'm unlikely to inspire a giggle, I've just got to show you what was underneath the cloth in the greenhouse.  I hadn't even peeked inside since the middle of August, but I could see leaves practically bursting from the cloth.  What's going on in there? 

Whoa.  I folded back the cloth to reveal a mass of green leaves.  These guys grew with no help from me.  I didn't even water them, so I am impressed with their vigor.  Weeds trapped under the cloth grew to the size of hay.  

I pulled out all the hay, yellow leaves, and a few dead plants to give them some breathing room.  Despite being covered, there were some big striped caterpillars enjoying a free meal, but the damage was minimal.  

Look at that - it's a rutabaga!  A big one!  I should get a small harvest at end of this month.  

I carefully tucked them back into their dome and began to dream up ways to expand the rutabaga operation next year, now that I have a system that works.  Just imagine - I could grow lots of rutabaga and store them in the root cellar.  We would be rich in delicious and healthy tubers!  

Yesterday, after months of riced rutabaga being one of our go-to vegetables, Brandon announced that he was officially sick of eating rutabaga.  Doh!  Of course.  Sigh.