Turnip

Turnips were once the most popular choice for home gardens, and for good reason. They're easy to grow, and once you start using them in your cooking, you'll never look back. These cabbage relatives grown for their spicy greens and mild tasting roots. The roots are a good addition to salads, pickled, or cooked in soups, stews, and side dishes. Or try them boiled and mashed in with potatoes. They add a sweet note to whatever dish they're included in. The greens are a classic cooked with ham or bacon in Southern dishes. Or add them fresh to salads or toss a few handfuls, chopped, into a stirfy.

Turnips grow best in cool conditions, so plant them early in spring or in late summer for a fall crop.

Light:

Sun,Part Sun

Plant Type:

Vegetable

Plant Height:

6-12 inches tall

Plant Width:

4-6 inches wide

Top Varieties

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'Hakurei' turnip features 2-inch-diameter pure white roots that have a sweet flavor. The greens are good for salads or as a steamed vegetable.
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'Purple Top White Globe' turnip develops creamy white roots below ground and purple shoulders above the soil line. It reaches 3 to 4 inches in diameter.
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'Scarlet Queen Red Stem' turnip produces slightly flattened red-skin roots with mild white flesh. Its red stems are attractive in salads.
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'Top Star Hybrid' turnip is grown primarily for its medium-size straplike leaves, which are ready to harvest in just 35 days from sowing.
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Harvest Tips

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Harvest turnip greens when they reach 4 to 6 inches tall. Remove only the outer leaves so the plant will continue to produce more greens and roots. Begin harvesting roots when the reach 2 inches in diameter for use fresh in salads. For cooking and winter storage, allow the roots to mature to 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Roots become sweeter if exposed to a light frost, but don't let them grow too large, or they will become bitter and woody.

Propagation

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Seed