Kids are great for bringing our attention to the magic of gardening. For Mark, watching a grandkid eat their first carrot out of the ground never loses its excitement. The crunchiness, the sweetness and, above all, the fact that it came out of the ground is a miracle that should never be lost on grown-ups.
The list of miraculous root vegetables is long. They’re a diverse group that store well, grow well in colder months, and are generally high in starches and sugars. Of course, they grow in the ground, creating this mystery about what is going on down there until the day you pull or dig them.
True root vegetables are those that grow taproots or tuberous roots. Some common taproot vegetables are carrots, parsnips, beets and radishes, and the more obscure tuberous root vegetables include pignuts and sweet potatoes. But not potatoes. Potatoes are tubers, a minor distinction from their sweeter root relatives; other
