Intheswamp said: Tammy Sue, I really don't anticipate living into my 90's. No such thing as luck, but thanks anyhow.

I am not far away from 90 so it is a possibility. Never paid any attention to nutritionist. I eat about anything that does not eat me first. I have favorites and dislikes., but so far I have been able to eat any dish put before without embarrassing my host. Sometimes I did not have any idea what I was eating. Of the root crops I have only eaten parsnips creamed or mashed with butter. Not among my favorites. All the others including beets I enjoy. One I have not tried is celeriac (Apium graveolens)

I love celeriac but my kids don't. I sneak them in my mashed potatoes.

Regarding living till your 90s, I remember when my mom was in her 60s, my brother's in laws, particular his MIL, she was short, fat, and had high cholesterol, a candidate for heart attack, she said to my mom if she passed her 60s without problem she should be able to live until her 90s, and she finally did go at age 98, so the moral of the story is you don't really know. I've been to funeral to a 99(almost 100), 99(brother's FIL),98(brother's MIL), 94(my aunt),94(my other aunt's husband) all in the last few years. I think modern medicine has something to do with it.

Johannian, you hate chocolate???
I'm blocking you right this minute!

I usually get replies like that when I tell people about my palate disorder, Deborah!

We're forming a club!

Instead of blocking Johannian, I think we need an intervention!

Johannian said:
"you'll have some great beers from them" Even the Baker Creek family won't pass up a good beer!

Wait a minute! Maybe I do like beets....what's the beer angle????!

SoCalGardenNut said: I love cheese and chocolate, and fish. Have you try fish baked in chocolate and cheese, simply delicious.

*That* just ain't gonna happen here!!!

Deeby said: Johannian, you hate chocolate???
I'm blocking you right this minute!

I just purchased this variety of rutabaga, I like the fact that it's compact, good for my small garden.
https://www.rareseeds.com/stor...

I'm trying 'Helenor' rutabaga; I don't usually grow them, but I'm trying to add a little more variety to the garden this year!
https://territorialseed.com/pr...

No rutabaga for me this year. Last year was hard enough with my radishes and carrots, because of the rabbits. They didn't seem to touch the radish, but totally destroyed my carrots (go figure). With how many rabbits we have, I'll consider it to be an accomplishment if I harvest carrots and onions (because they also destroyed my onion crop last year) this year.

You need a fence, Johannian

I plant in various places on a 34 acre property, so it's hard for us to cover all the spaces. But I do have a trap in which I've caught rabbits before, so I'm thinking I'll set that out there and maybe get some meat for rabbit stew while I'm protecting my garden. A win/win situation!

Just to get an idea of how many rabbits we have:
Last spring, our neighbor shot 62 rabbits in his garden within a timespan of a month and a half.

You can trap all that you want to trap...rabbit is good meat. BUT...rabbits are well known for procreating. I doubt seriously you will put much of a dent in their population. A simple, low, easy-to-install fence is the answer. A 2' high stretch of chicken wire and maybe four or six short posts of some kind surrounding a bed of carrots is easy....I mean, *how* many carrots do you really grow? ...unless you're a commercial-grower, or a truck-farmer, I just don't see having a big bed of carrots. But, maybe I'm wrong. If you want a real challenge try keeping these out of your vegetables ...

Johannian said: I plant in various places on a 34 acre property, so it's hard for us to cover all the spaces. But I do have a trap in which I've caught rabbits before, so I'm thinking I'll set that out there and maybe get some meat for rabbit stew while I'm protecting my garden. A win/win situation!

Just to get an idea of how many rabbits we have:
Last spring, our neighbor shot 62 rabbits in his garden within a timespan of a month and a half.

When I was in the Bay Area I was able to purchase rabbit meat and we didn't have any rabbit problem, none that I could think of. We had raccoons though, they were just ugly, one even climbed up to my neighbor's tree looking down at my yard.

Oh Ed, trust me, I've been there and done that with the deer challenge. Ask my mom (KFredenburg). She'll tell you some stories about mowed-down plants, and be getting herself worked into a frenzy while she's at it (she can't stand deer). Ah, those deer; you love 'em and you hate 'em.

Also yes, we do have some spare chicken wire left behind from the previous owners who had a chicken coup. It's just that my growing spaces are a bit awkward and would be hard to properly put chicken wire around it. "Properly" meaning without at least one small space the rabbits might be able to open and get through.

I'm definitely going to try, though, because most of my areas are able to be protected by chicken wire.

Plus, some of my areas are in able-to-be-seen-by-guests areas, and chicken wire isn't exactly pretty. You know how parents can get with that…

That is a lot of rabbits. Never had that many and now that we have a coyote infestation, they are pretty scarce here. Deer is the major problem. When I had rabbit problems, a little blood meal sprinkled over the susceptible crops worked as a deterrent. During the depression and WW II, rabbit stewed, fried , ground into sausage kept us alive. Never had them bother onions. Beans, sweet potatoes were their favorites.
Century, Not a root crop but a good Vidalia type onion,

Same over here with the rabbits, Dillard. I can probably count the number of rabbits that I've seen in the last few years on one hand. Same thing with bobwhite quail, though the last couple of years I've stumbled upon two coveys on the property. Turkeys seem to survive somehow, maybe they're getting better at hiding their nests. I know I had a hen put a next in the middle of a briar patch behind the house...one day she was sitting on eggs...the next day she was gone and so was the eggs. I hear the coyotes every night here. Between them and the armadillos, ground dwelling critters are really taking a hit.