Turnips

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Family: Brassicaceae

Countries: England, Europe, France, Italy, Scotland, Spain, United Kingdom, Wales

For some reason, turnips are often under-rated, both by cooks and gardeners.  I adore growing turnips and I absolutely relish the taste of these deliciously sweet vegetables.  I enjoy eating raw and cooked cooked turnips, both are delightful!  In my home, we use turnips in risottos, stir fries, soups, salads, or as a side dish.  Turnips taste great raw, roasted, stir fried, steamed, boiled, or sautéed.  It’s not only the turnip roots that can be used in the kitchen, turnip leaves are also edible.  The best flavoured leaves are produced by young plants; young turnip leaves have a sweeter flavour and a finer texture than older specimens, whose leaves have a tendency towards being a little more bitter, with a rougher texture, making them less appetising and not as tasty.  Regular watering, during spells of dry weather will ensure that your plants produce a great harvest of delicious turnip roots and leaves.

Although some varieties perform better when sown in narrower sowing windows; generally, turnip seeds can be sown from March until the middle of June (from spring to mid summer, in the UK).  If you’re unsure when is the best time to sow a particular variety of turnip seeds, try sowing the seeds from April to May; as this time of year usually produces ideal growing conditions and provides your plants with plenty of time to grow and develop.

Turnips are quick growing vegetables that thrive in cool summers.  Plants can be successfully sown directly in the soil or sown directly in raised beds, or containers filled with good quality compost.  Remember to water both your turnip seedlings and turnip plants during periods of drought; this is important, as regular waterings will produce turnips with a sweeter flavour and an improved texture.

Cabbage White Butterflies lay their eggs on Brassicas, including turnips; their caterpillars will rapidly devour turnip leaves!  If you plan to consume your own home-grown turnip leaves, you will need to protect your plants after sowing.  This is easily done by covering the sowing area with Enviromesh or a similarly resilient, fine netting.  By covering your plants, you will achieve the best harvest and avoid any problems from caterpillars, cabbage root fly, flea beetles, pigeons, and other pests.

For more articles about edible gardening, please click here.

To see my plant pages and view pictures and information to help you grow a wide range of vegetables, please click here.

To see all my plant pages and discover pictures and advice on growing a vast variety of plants – from plants for pollinators, climbing plants, ferns, orchids, houseplants, scented plants, container plants, roses, perennials, trees, shrubs, annuals, vegetables, fruit, and herbs, please click here.

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