Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

Vegetables & Fruits

Information about growing edibles.

Vegetables: The Carrot Family (Apiaceae)—Roots and Herbs

Did you know that carrots are related to celery, celery root (celeriac), fennel, parsnips, and lots of herbs used for their foliage and/or seeds, including angelica, anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, chervil, cilantro, dill, lovage, and parsley? We also call plants in the Apiaceae family umbellifers because of their umbel-shaped blooms, which are like umbrellas. You can grow most of these plants in your own garden—some you can start right now for fall harvest!

Heirloom carrots

Grow carrots in clay?
Yes, you can! Many WNC gardeners don’t bother with carrots (Daucus carota var. sativus) because they are so readily available in stores and they think they won’t do well in our clay soils. Home-grown carrots come in many shapes, sizes, and even colors, making them a tasty addition to your garden. Raised beds and container gardens are one way to avoid heavy soils, but choosing smaller varieties, such as ‘Thumbelina’ or ‘Paris Market’ or Nantes varieties, which are shorter and have blunt tips are better choices if your garden is “clayey.” 

Planting
You can still plant carrots, dill, parsley, and parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) now through mid-August for a fall crop. You can even leave your carrots and parsnips in the ground and harvest them as needed as long as temperatures stay above about 20F.

Although you can often find parsley and other herbs as transplants, plan to grow Apiaceae from seed. Plant directly in the ground in a sunny spot. Although best in full sun, many will tolerate partial shade if you’re short on space.

Annual, biennial, or perennial?
Although we grow most Apiaceae as annuals, many are biennials or even perennials. Annuals complete their life cycle in one season, while biennials form roots and leaves their first year, then flower and seed before dying in their second year. Perennials typically live for more than two years.

Knowing the lifespan of the plants you are growing is important because you may need to leave them in in the ground beyond one season to harvest your desired crop; also, if you are buying transplants, beware! One spring I got a great deal on large parsley plants, only to have them immediately start to go to seed, showing their biennial nature.

  • Anise, chervil, cilantro/coriander (yes, they are the same plant—the leaves are known as cilantro and the seeds are coriander), cumin, and dill are annuals.
  • Angelica, caraway, carrots, celery, celeriac, parsley, and parsnips are biennials.
  • Fennel and lovage are perennials.

Maintenance
Water. Keep your planting moist until seeds sprout. Water regularly throughout the growing season.

Thin/Weed. Knowing your crop seedlings from weeds is always important! Many Apiaceae have ferny foliage, which may help. Thinning is important for root crops, so leave at least an inch or two between carrots and parsnips. Weed often as pulling large weeds may damage your crop roots; cutting off weeds at the soil surface may help. Weeding after a rain and watering after weeding help avoid root damage.

Fertilize. Apiaceae are not heavy feeders, but you want to see healthy foliage to produce roots and provide leaves and seeds in your herb crops, so some fertilizing during the season may be helpful.

Insects and diseases to watch for. Armyworms, carrot worms, and leafhoppers may feed on your plants. Leafhoppers also spread aster yellows, which affect carrots and celery. Swallowtail butterfly larvae feed on dill, fennel, and parsley. 

Beware toxic and invasive Apiaceae

There are some very toxic members of the Apiaceae family! Be careful around the leaves of garden parsnips, which can cause an allergic rash in some—and never eat parsnip leaves or stems. You may have heard about the giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), which can cause blistering and burning skin reactions—much worse than poison ivy—and even blindness. We recently identified poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) growing at our Extension office. This is another plant you don’t want in your landscape because eating any portion of the plant can be fatal! Even the wild carrot (Daucus carota) known as Queen Anne’s lace is considered a problematic invasive plant throughout the southeastern United States. Remove it before it goes to seed if you have it in your landscape, but be sure of your identification—use extreme caution when handling unknown Apiaceae plants.

Article written by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.

More information:
Garden Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in North Carolina
by NCSU Cooperative Extension

Vegetable and Herb Seedling Photographs
by Travis Saling, The Westside Gardener

Invasive, Exotic Plants of the Southeast: Queen Anne’s Lace
by NC State University

Giant Hogweed? Maybe It’s Cow Parsnip, Poison Hemlock, or Purple Angelica
by University of Illinois Extension

Pest Alert: Giant Hogweed
by North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA & CS)

Vegetables: The Cucurbits—Squash, Pumpkins, and Gourds

Summer squash is my favorite vegetable, and despite the jokes about gardeners inundating their neighbors with unwanted zucchini, it isn’t always easy to get a good crop! Squash, pumpkins, and some gourds are members of the Cucurbita genus that makes up one branch of the Cucurbitaceae family. Which can we grow in our Western North Carolina gardens? 

Squash plant
Squash plant

Understanding the family tree
There are hundreds of cucurbits! Those grown in vegetable gardens belong to just a few species.

  • Cucurbita pepo: This species includes most of our summer squashes—yellow, pattypan, spaghetti squash, zucchini—as well as acorn and delicata winter squash, miniature and “Jack-o-lantern” type pumpkins, and many ornamental gourds (yellow-flowered—white-flowered gourds belong to the genus Lagenaria).
  • C. maxima: Includes the giant pumpkins, buttercup, Hubbard, kabocha, and turban winter squash.
  • C. moschata: Tromboncino, often eaten as a summer squash, and butternut winter squash.
  • C. argyrosperma: Cushaw squashes/pumpkins.
  • C. ficifolia: Fig-leaf gourds, eaten as a summer squash. 

Choosing varieties
Think about the space you’ll need for your cucurbits before choosing varieties. Although many summer squashes have a bushy growth habit, some—as well as most all winter squashes, pumpkins, and gourds—take up a lot of space. Cucurbits need warm weather and lots of water to prosper, so look at the dates needed from planting to maturity and be sure you can provide a site in full sun that you can keep irrigated. North Carolina State University periodically evaluates cucurbit varieties. For detailed observations, see the NCSU webpage Cucurbit Cultivar Evaluations & Variety Trials. 

Planting
Planting squash, pumpkins, and gourds from seed is often easier than transplants if you allow sufficient time from seeding to harvest. Although there is no need to plant in hills, this may be an efficient way to organize your garden. To save space consider using supports, such as A-frame trellises, for small-fruited cucurbits. Thin to two or three plants if you use hills, or follow seed packet spacing.

Pollination
Cucurbits typically have male and female flowers—you can see an immature fruit at the base of the female flowers. You will often see flowers for a while before fruits form, or you may see immature fruits that don’t develop. Often the first flowers are all male, or the first female flowers may open when there are no male flowers open. If you don’t see insects pollinating your plants, you can pick a newly opened male flower and swirl the center structure (stamen) on the inside of open female flowers.

Maintenance
Water. Keep your planting moist until seeds sprout. It is typical for leaves to wilt midday, but if they are wilted in early morning or evening, they need water! Water plants at the base, close to the soil—avoid handling and working when plants are wet.
Mulch helps moderate soil temperature and moisture and keeps down weeds, but if you want plants to form additional roots along their stems, allow for some bare ground! Additional roots can help your planting survive insect attacks.
Weed. Remove weeds as soon as they appear so you don’t damage stems when rooting out larger weeds once the vines start to run.
Fertilizing. Cucurbits are heavy feeders, so prepare to fertilize regularly throughout the growing season.
Insects and diseases to watch for. Squash beetles, bugs, and—especially borers—can spell trouble for the longevity of your plantings. Striped cucumber beetles can introduce both bacterial wilt and cucumber mosaic. Cucurbits are susceptible to both downy and powdery mildew.

Harvesting
The North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook advises for summer squash:

Harvest when the fruit is soft, tender, and 6 to 8 inches long (3 to 4 inches across for patty pans). The skin color often changes to a dark, glossy green or yellow, depending on cultivar. Pick every two to three days to encourage production…. Harvest pumpkins and winter squash before frost and after the vine dries, the fruit color darkens, and the skin surface resists puncture from a thumbnail. Avoid bruising or scratching the fruit while handling it. Leave a 3-inch to 4-inch portion of stem attached to the fruit and store in a cool, dry location with good ventilation.

Note that winter squash may look ready to harvest well before they have matured! Gourds in the Cucurbita genus are soft-shell rather than hard-shell gourds; harvest before frost, and dry indoors. Note that you can also harvest squash blossoms for culinary use when they are about to open.

I am already enjoying my summer squash this season, but you can continue planting until late July! Wait until next year for planting winter squash, pumpkins, and gourds.

Article written by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.

More information
Garden Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in North Carolina
by North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension

Growing Gourds
by NC State Extension

Growing Pumpkins and Winter Squash
by NC State Extension

What Can Go Wrong with Tomatoes?

What can go wrong with growing tomatoes? Almost everything! What can go right with planting tomatoes in our home gardens? Enough to keep us growing them!

Tomatoes ripening on the vine_Todd Heft_CC BY-NC 2.0_Flickr
Tomatoes ripening on the vine

What’s the problem?
Let’s face it—there are lots of challenges with homegrown tomatoes. They wilt, they spot, they crack, they dot, they blotch, they rot. Whew! The list goes on. Few vegetables—or fruits, which are what tomatoes are—are more challenging.

Helpful hints
Try following these guidelines:

  • Decide on varieties that are well-suited to our area, bred for disease resistance, and meet your eating preferences.
  • Select healthy bedding plants or start indoors from seeds 6 to 8 weeks before the expected last frost date.
  • Wait to plant until after all danger of frost has passed, usually after Mother’s Day for Buncombe County.
  • Choose a location that receives at least six hours of sun a day.
  • Plant in well-prepared soil, rich in humus, with a pH level of about 6.0 to 7.0 (find out with a soil test).
  • Maintain uniform moisture and mulch.
  • Avoid overhead watering which can promote disease.
  • Stake or cage your plants because of their vining tendencies.

What to watch for
Although there are myriad tomato problems, most are rare. Five of the most common concerns and their solutions:

  1. Bacterial spot produces small chocolate brown spots on leaves and fruit. Recommended controls are to use treated seed, apply fixed copper bactericide, avoid overhead watering, remove old plant debris, and rotate your planting area.
  2. Blossom end rot caused by calcium deficiency produces dark-brown leathery spots on the blossom end of fruit. Prevent by liming your soil (based on soil test results) and keeping your plants evenly moist—be sure to water plants during dry periods!
  3. Sunscald produces papery white areas on the side of fruit facing the sun or yellow-orange blotches at the stem end that do not ripen. Proper planting and maintenance help prevent foliage diseases that can cause leaf drop and expose fruits to too much sun.
  4. Cracks in fruit also result from an uneven moisture supply. Tomatoes may need to be watered every 2-3 days, especially in dry weather.
  5. Flea beetles produce many tiny holes in leaves. Tomatoes will tolerate a great deal of flea beetle damage, but if damage is excessive, ask about an approved pesticide.

Preventing problems
To prevent disease in future years, do not compost plant debris. Plant tomatoes in a different location at least every third year. Then, watch your tomatoes grow! If you have a bad year, don’t give up! There’s always hope for the following season.

Consider the wisdom in John Denver’s song from his 1988 album Higher Ground:

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy
That’s true love and homegrown tomatoes! 

Article written by Mary Alice Ramsey, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.

Learn more 

Gardening in the Mountains lecture:
All Things Tomato
by Dr. Randy Gardner, Professor Emeritus, Horticultural Science, NCSU
July 19, 2018, 10 a.m. to noon
Folk Arts Center, Asheville, NC
Watch for details in early July blog announcement. 

Growing Tomatoes in the Home Garden
by NC State Extension

Late Tomato Blight Is Here
by Debbie Green, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer, July 2015

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

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