Martha's Garden Is Still Producing Vegetables—See How She Harvests After a Frost

While gardening tasks are winding down for some, Martha is still putting her green thumb to use. In a recent blog post, she shared that some of her raised beds are actively producing fall carrots, parsnips, and celeriac. 

"Do you know... some vegetables taste even better after a frost? Many root vegetables are best when harvested in colder weather," Martha writes. "Here at my farm, many of the raised beds in my vegetable garden have been cleared and cleaned for winter, but a few beds still continue to thrive with fall carrots, parsnips, and one of my favorites, celeriac. These vegetables take the longest to reach maturity - about four months, but when they're finally picked, they're so delicious."

Martha's garden has produced "bounties" of amazing vegetables this year. And even with winter on the horizon, she is still harvesting delicious, organic produce—including one of her favorite vegetables, celeriac. "It is a variety of celery; however, while celery is grown for its succulent stalk and foliage, celeriac is cultivated for its edible and bulbous stem or hypocotyl, and shoots," she writes.

To harvest celeriac, Martha's head gardener, Ryan McCallister, uses a straight-edged harvesting knife to cut off the long leafy stalks. Since it has many small roots, celeriac can be hard to pull from the ground. Once picked, the stringy roots are cut off from the bottom of the celeriac ball. "The flavor is very mild, slightly sweet and nutty, and doesn’t have any bitterness," Martha writes. 

Another vegetable Martha is still harvesting from her garden is autumn carrots. "These are sweeter than summer carrots because they matured in cooler conditions. Carrots convert stored starches into sugars to protect themselves from freezing. This process makes them sweeter and tastier," Martha writes. After harvesting the carrots, Ryan cuts off the tops, leaving about 2 to 3 inches on each carrot. 

The parsnips are harvested next, which Martha says to do carefully to avoid piercing the vegetable. "Parsnips have broad, hairless, ovate, compound pinnate leaves, up to 6 inches in length. These leaves and the stems can also be eaten or used to flavor soups and stews," Martha writes. "Parsnips that are about 8- to 10-inches long are the best tasting. They have thicker skin and a woodier center compared to carrots, but they are delicious cooked."

After washing her harvest, Martha stores the vegetables in her refrigerator until she can cook them. With celeriac in particular, which contains many nutrients like vitamins C, K, B6, potassium, phosphorous, and fiber, she plans on making soup.