AgBC's: C is for Carrot

For over 2,000 years, carrots have been growing their roots in the underground. These root vegetables are related to beets, radishes, turnips and parsnips.

In the supermarket, you will find carrots both with and without their green, leafy tops or even baby carrots. Regardless, all carrots should be firm and smooth. Avoid those that are cracked or that have begun to soften. The best, tastiest carrots are young and skinny. Tiny baby carrots are very tender, but don't have as much flavor as their full-grown siblings. And if you buy carrots with tops, be sure to remove the tops right away so your carrots will keep longer.

Carrots originated in Central Asia and the Near East, where they grew in a variety of colors, including white, yellow, green or purple...but not orange! And, their first use was medicinal, not for food. Physicians prescribed using carrot juice to treat cancer, indigestion, snake bites and skin ulcers. Grimmway Farms, the world leader is carrot production (and located in Californic) has a cool "Fun Zone" on their site as well as lots more interesting history, recipes and buying tips for carrots.

In the Middle Ages, ladies used green, leafy carrot tops as decorations in their hair. Although you may not be willing to make that style leap, you can grow a leafy plant from a carrot top. Just keep in mind that since carrots grow underground from seeds, this plant will not grow a carrot to eat. This experiment can also be done with the tops of beets, turnips and parsnips. Here's what to do:

1. Cut a 1/2-inch slice from the top of a carrot.
2. Wet a paper towel with water. Lay it in the bottom of a plastic container.
3. Place the cut side of the carrot on the wet paper.
4. Put the container near a sunny window. Give it a little water every day or so to keep the paper wet. Leaves should begin to grow in about a week.

Looking for a good read for your young reader? Try The Carrot Seed.

This 1945 classic book has been in print continuously since its initial publication over 60 years ago. It was one of the shortest picture books ever published when it was first released, and it follows a little boy's hope and hard work as he plants his carrot seed and wait patiently for it to grow.

This series is inspired by the book The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond.

Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Prairie Plant-apalooza

Twig lives in and around the Wooster campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, where he enjoys the prairie plant in Secrest Arboretum. His alter ego is Kurt Knebusch, one of our super-talented writers and editors on campus. Each month, look for Twig to answer a reader questions and some additional interesting facts below. After Twig's post, we will be providing some ideas and suggestions on how to incorporate the info in Twig's column into fun science learning for your students and children.

Q. Twig: What's with all the prairie plants? I'm seeing special sales of them. There's a whole garden full at my school. I'm waiting to see a buffalo! What gives?

A. You're right. Prairie plants are getting more popular. One reason is that more gardeners are interested in native plants -- in this case, plants that are natural to North America. (A lot of U.S. garden plants were imported from Europe and Asia.)

Another reason is that prairie plants are easy to care for. They're perennials -- they come back every year -- so you plant them only once. They shade and crowd out weeds, so you rarely if ever have to hoe them. And they don't mind hot, dry weather, so you don't have to water them (except when they're young), unlike a green, grassy lawn.

Also, prairie plants give food and shelter to birds and butterflies. Walkingsticks, too!

A downside, of course, is that you can't play baseball on them. Bob the Bug keeps getting lost.

What are some prairie plants? Wildflowers like purple coneflower and black-eyed Susan and grasses like big bluestem and Indian grass.

Great names. Great plants. Great Plains. You, too, can have a little house on the prairie! Or a big one! Or a modest, well-kept bungalow!


Using this information for education:
There are tons of ways to learn about prairies! First, the most obvious is to visit somewhere where there are prairie plants! One such place is Secrest Arboretum on OARDC's Wooster campus. We have a mega-cool prairie plant garden in the arboretum. Admission is free and open to the public seven days a week during daylight hours. Most of the plants in the garden are labeled with their common and scientific name...which means you'll actually know what plants you look at enjoy.

There are also tons of great lesson plans available on our North American native prairies:


Teacherlink has several social studies lessons
National Geographic's Incredible Prairie Picture Show
Illinois State Museum's Historic Native American Plant Dyes
Discover Education's The American Prairie
Living Roadway Trust Fund of Iowa's Create a Prairie Roadside


And that just scratches the surface! So get out there, explore and enjoy our native prairie plants!! Summer is their season of glory!