Purchase
Area Master Gardener Association
(PAMGA)
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(PAMGA) |
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Judging - Radishes and Turnips March 30, 2005 we began phase I of the judging of our vegetable competition with a focus on radishes and turnips. The maturity date for the Cherry Belle radishes was February 23 and we've allowed them to continue growing another month (hoping for better results). The maturity date for the White Celestial radishes and the Purple Top White Globe turnips was March 27.
Charles Thurman of Schmidt Farms holds the first radish pulled for examination during today's judging. This specimen ultimately captured second place in the Biggest Radish race. We began with a discussion of the qualities a grower looks for when determining whether produce will be sent to market. One of the judges, David Baumer from Baumer Farms, told us top-grade vegetables must be uniform to be sold. They must be blemish free, the same color and the same size. He explained that he expects about 10% of a crop to be culled from the harvest. These vegetables might be sold in a secondary market, perhaps to a cannery where appearance would not be as important as taste. While culling occurs after harvest, our other judge, Charles Thurman from Schmidt Farms, reiterated the importance of thinning seeds once they sprout. If the plants do not have enough room to grow they will likely develop an irregular shape or perhaps not grow at all. And, if the foliage is too thick, sufficient sunlight may not penetrate to all the plants which would also cause lackluster growth. While sacrificing a plant is tough, overall it produces stronger, healthier plants.
The judges agreed the lack of natural sunlight (despite the use of Grow Lights) decreased our growing success in the classroom. Plus, the room temperature may have worked against us since radishes and turnips perform best in cool temperatures while we as humans often like a warmer temperature. RADISHES
The winning radish sizes are as follows: Another view of the winning radish:
The next category was "Most Radishes." The LIGHT Team won this title with a whopping three (3) radishes. "Tastiest Radish" honors were shared by the OXYGEN and LIGHT teams as well as the CONTROL group as the judges liked qualities about three entries. TURNIPS Alas, there were no winners in the "Biggest Turnip" category as the judges did not consider any of the entries to be marketable. TURNIP GREENS We got creative then and came up with two new categories. After evaluating the color, thickness, size and overall appearance of their entry, the judges declared the OXYGEN Team had grown the "Best Looking Turnip Greens."
David Baumer of Baumer Farms demonstrates how to cut turnip greens for market. On the farm he would use a knife but he made do with a pair of scissors today. Today's results:
Since we are on Spring Break next week we must make plans for the care of our containers, especially the carrots, in our absence. We are exploring various options. The carrots have not yet reached their maturity date so we await the second phase of judging. |
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Purchase Area Master Gardener Association, 2705 Olivet Church Road, Paducah, Ky 42001 270/554-9520 FAX 270/554-8283 www.pamga.org |
After giving the
entries a good long look (several looks, in fact) the judges declared the
SOIL Team
growers of the "Biggest Radish."
The Oxygen Team came in second.
An entry from Ms. Glisson's "Control Group" came in third. When asked for
the secret to growing the biggest radish, one of the team members responded "overwatering."
Teams
were then given the option of cutting their turnip greens to determine who had
grown the "Most Turnip Greens"
(even though the goal was to grow turnips). The
LIGHT Team
sacrificed one of their containers. The
scale indicated a weight of 53.3 grams. 