Thinning the Root Veg

This is a blog I’ve had in my head for too long so I figure its time to sit down and type it out.

Almost two weeks ago I finally managed to do my thinning in the garden.  It was a task that was well overdue but because of all rain it was impossible to do.  It was still quite wet when I did the thinning: my fingers were constantly caked with wet dirt and my butt was soaked right through from sitting on the ground.  It wasn’t the most comfortable experience but at least the bugs weren’t too bad and the sun was shining.  In a way it was a bit of a blessing that it was so wet as the plants I pulled released from the dirt easily.  Last year when I did my thinning I had to water everything first or I won’t have been able to remove anything; the dirt was so dry and hard it was like pulling the plants out of concrete.

When I do my thinning I wait until the plants are a decent size and the roots of the surrounding plants can handle being disturbed without damaging anything. If you thin your plants by pulling when they are too small you can do more harm then good.  I’ve read on other blogs and garden websites that the best way to thin is by cutting the plants at dirt level when they are extremely young.  I’m not to sure what to think about this, I would probably get carried away and cut too much and then end up with no plants.  I prefer to pull the plants and do so when they are larger because then I can work around “dead spots” and actually get a grip on something.

Thinning plants can be a tedious task but is something that needs to be done.  How heavily you seed in the spring determines how much plants you need to thin.  I tend to seed quite heavily which makes more work for me as I end up having to pulling a ridiculous amount of plants.  Every year I tell myself next year I won’t seed so heavily but I always seem to forget.

Twisted Carrots - a sign of over crowding

When you’re done your thinning your garden can look quite different, mine looked a little anemic.  Thankfully it’s something that is worth your time doing.  It doesn’t make sense but by actually decreasing the number of plants you are increasing your yield.  It’s also amazing how much the remaining plants will grow once they have room.  In the time since I did my thinning the plants look much larger and healthier; hopefully they are starting to develop actual vegetables now.

Before Thinning the Beets & Carrots

After Thinning the Beets & Carrots