Farm Photo: 1/11/07

Golden Globe Turnip Flowers In My April 2006 Garden

Excuses for the lazy kitchen gardener come almost too easily. Didn't get around to harvesting all of your bounty? You're saving the seeds of course. Forgot to actually save the seeds? You're feeding the birds--and, more importantly, keeping your beloved seed companies in business. Once again, it's seed ordering season in the kitchen garden--oh my! **

There is nothing more wonderful than the feelings of pride and accomplishment that accompany a meal of glorious bounty that were once just a few seeds in your hand--even if that bounty consists of only a handful of arugula. Growing food from seed is not as intimidating (or as much work) as you might think. Honest. (Well, as long as you don't get really, really carried away with your seed order.)

Inbetween sending in my seed orders, I'm working on some posts for InMyKitchenGarden.com about ordering seeds. If you would like to receive each new IMKG post via email, just pop over there and look for the sign-up thingie in the top right hand corner of the homepage. Didn't know about my kitchen garden blog? Click here to read why it's not just for gardeners.

And thank you all so much for your congratulatory comments and emails regarding my Food Blog Award. I never could have done it without you!

A year of Daily Photos ago: Distracted By The Sky

Welcome new visitors!
Click here for a brief introduction to this site.

** For some of my basic tips for starting seeds, click here and scroll down to the comments section. A great place to find answers to all your gardening questions is at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds' iDigmyGarden.com. With nearly 2,000 members and over 20,000 posts, it's the Internet's largest forum dedicated to the heirloom gardener. My favorite gardening book for the past 5 years has been The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Ed Smith. Click here to read my review of it.

Lowly Turnips Are Tip Top in the Garden: How to Grow Turnips from Seed & What To Do with Them

Baby Golden Globe turnips in my winter garden.

That patch of ground you carefully tend may still be frozen solid right now, but avid gardeners know that this is the most influential gardening time of the year. And for obsessed gardeners like me, it can also be the most expensive. It’s time to order seeds.

Starting plants from seed (be they edible or decorative) opens up an endless world of propagating possibilities to gardeners. Hundreds of companies offer thousands of varieties of seeds from around the world, all for an extremely reasonable couple of dollars a packet. This means, in theory, that you can fill your garden with a much more interesting assortment of plants that is offered at the local nursery for a lot less money. In theory.

The bargain price of seeds is almost a disadvantage—they’re too good of a deal. It is impossible to only order a few packets. Curled up inside a warm and cozy house on a snowy afternoon, surrounded by piles of seed catalogs full of enticing descriptions, it's easy to believe that you will somehow find the space and time to grow all those exotic offerings.

It's also easy to pass by some of the classic mainstays of the kitchen garden, like turnips.

Many people do not eat turnips, nor do they grow them or ever even think about them. These people are missing out, for I have discovered that turnips, a member of the cruciferous vegetable family, are not only one of the easiest vegetables to grow, but that with very little effort (and no outlay of cash beyond the initial cost of the seeds, currently $1.35 for 600 from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds) they will also reward you with bounty throughout the year. Here’s how.

Several years ago I thickly sowed hundreds of plain old Purple Top White Globe turnip seeds in mid summer, when the optimum soil temperature for germination of 80° was no problem.

The productive Purple Top turnip was a popular market variety in the U.S. back in the 1800s, and it has since become the standard American turnip. Other interesting heirloom turnips that are still available today include Golden Globe, White Egg, Ideal Purple Top Milan, Snowball, Bianca Piatta, Navet des Vertus Marteau, and Amber Globe.

Within a few weeks, I had tender, nutrient-packed greens to toss into salads. Turnip greens are, in fact, one of The World’s Healthiest Foods. Turnip bulbs are a good source of vitamin C and have two to three grams of fiber per serving. They also contain the potent phytochemical sulforaphane, which has been shown to protect against cancer, especially breast cancer.

At this point I mulched around the plants with grass clippings to discourage weeds, which was the only work ever required. A few weeks later I picked darling baby turnips that I peeled, simmered in water until soft, and then mashed by hand. Seasoned with nothing but salt, pepper and a lump of butter, they were delicious. This tasty early harvest also helped to thin out the remaining plants, allowing them more space to grow.

As the days progressed, the larger greens were steamed and then sautéed with olive oil and garlic; try stirring in some chopped bacon for a little Southern flavor. The bulbs were peeled, cut into chunks, and tossed into soups and stews (try them in place of, or in addition to, potatoes in any recipe) or simmered and mashed as described above with potatoes.

The turnips will need to cook about 10 minutes longer than the potatoes. You may never be able to eat plain mashed potatoes again after tasting these.

There are numerous other ways to enjoy turnips. You can slice raw baby turnips and toss them into salads as you would radishes. Or you can thinly slice and stir-fry medium size turnips, with or without some of the chopped greens. You can even grate raw small turnips and mix them into your favorite slaw.

When freezing temperatures arrived, I began covering my turnip patch with plastic tarps, and later with tarps and old blankets. I continued to harvest turnips throughout the winter, sometimes digging under a foot of snow to reach them. The greens turned to slimy mush, but the bulbs were just fine.

Alternately, you can simply harvest all of your turnips just before the ground freezes (which is when they are sweetest) and store them at 32°F for up to 6 months. But my method is more fun—and more rewarding.

By early spring I hadn’t even harvested the entire crop. As the temperature rose, I uncovered what was left, and within days I was thrilled to see tiny green shoots sprouting up from the—by then not-so-tasty-looking—bulbs. Once again I had tender, nutritious greens, which were extremely welcome so early in the season.

And it doesn’t even end there. Instead of pulling up the plants, I let them grow, and by late spring I was rewarded with enough turnip seeds for another crop, plus extras I could have sown right then if I hadn’t been so tired of turnips.


Golden Globe turnip greens are a delightful sight in February.

Late last September I sowed a few rows of Golden Globe turnip seeds in my raised bed garden, and while they had a slow start, our winter has been so mild this year that the plants (greens and all) are thriving, as you can see by these photos.

They've survived snow, ice, and even a -3°F morning covered with nothing more than a bed sheet and an old quilt. I place metal hoops and wire tomato cages around the plants so the covers don’t touch the leaves.

I’ll probably never be able to stop ordering too many packets of all those alluring gourmet vegetable seeds each winter, but I always make sure to set aside some space in the garden every year for turnips. Perhaps you should, too.

For more information on starting seeds, please see the comments section of this post.

Sources:
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Located right here in Missouri, I have been happily ordering "non-hybrid, non-GMO, non-treated, and non-patented" seeds from this rapidly growing, family owned company for several years. They offer an amazing variety of seeds from around the world.

Pinetree Garden Seeds
Another longtime favorite of mine, this small company in Maine offers top quality, untreated seeds (plus things like shallots, seed potatoes, strawberry plants, and asparagus roots) at very reasonable prices. Many seed packets are under a dollar, and they also have a tempting selection of reasonably priced garden tools, kitchen gadgets, and books.

High Mowing Organic Seeds
I just discovered this company yesterday (my catalog is on its way!), and they appear to be right up my garden row. This independent, family-owned business in Vermont offers over 250 varieties of organic seeds (many of which they raise themselves). Click here to read more about them. And click here to learn why you should seriously consider buying organically grown seeds. If you have any experience with this company, I would love to hear about it.

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