Quick Reference
When to Start |
As soon as soil can be worked.
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Crop Rotation |
Avoid planting in the same spot that any member of the cabbage family grew in the previous year.
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How To Plant |
Plant seeds 1/2" deep in rows spaced 1 foot apart
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Spacing and Support |
Start seeds 1" apart. As they come in thin to 4-6" apart by removing the weakest plants
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When to Harvest |
Leaves can be harvested to use as salad greens throughout the season. Once root is showing above soil entire plant including turnip can be harvested
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Storage |
Will stay good for a week or 2 in the vegetable crisper. For long-term freezing works best.
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Another vegetable you have probably only experienced as mush in a can, you might be surprised how much you like a real turnip pulled from the dirt. You can use turnip as a substitute for potatoes. They have a similar texture when cooked but with a tangy mustard-like flavor. The greens are also edible in salads, stir-frys, or smoothies.
When To Start
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You can safely plant your turnip seeds whenever you want, but they will only germinate and grow when the soil reaches a certain temperature. Seeds will germinate when the soil is between 50-95 degrees, and optimal growing temperature is 40-75 degrees. Have we ever actually considered the soil temperature? No, we haven't. After 6 months locked inside I'm getting my garden going as soon as humanly possible.
As you can see turnip does well in pretty wide range of temperatures. For this reason it can be planted as a succession crop all season long. For a continuous harvest plant a new half-row every 2 weeks through August. |
Crop Rotation
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Avoid planting turnips in the same spot that any member of the cabbage family grew in the previous year.
Click here to read about crop rotation and why it is so important It's important to not only avoid planting the same crop in the same spot 2 years in a row, but you also have to avoid plants in the same family as they typically draw on the same nutrients and have issues with the same pests. Click here to learn more about plant families and find a chart showing which ones are related. |
How to Plant
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Direct sow seeds right into the garden when the time comes. Seeds should be planted about 1/2" below the surface.
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Spacing and Support
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Plant seeds every 1" in rows spaced 1 foot apart. As the seeds germinate, pull out weaker plants so that there is a 4-6" space between plants.
If you're more interested in the greens than the root below, you can leave them at 2-3" apart. You may be tempted to give them more room but turnips taste best when they are about the size of a tennis ball. Any bigger than that they take on a tough almost woody texture and begin to split open in the dirt. |
Harvesting
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Greens: Once the plant is well established you can remove 1-2 stalks at a time for a continuous harvest all summer long without killing the plant. Or you can just pull the entire thing out of the ground to use it all at the same time. There's no "right"time really. The younger they are the more tender and flavorful they will be.
Turnips: You'll start to see the turnips popping through the top of the soil just a bit when they are ready. You may need to just find out the hard way by yanking one out to see how they are coming along. It won't be a waste because you can eat the green/stalks. Turnips are definitely in the category of the smaller the better. About the size of a tennis ball is optimal. Once they grow bigger they become tougher and lose their flavor. |
What to do with way too many of them
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Pickle them. Not sure I've ever had one myself, but picked turnips are a thing.
Mash and freeze them. Basically here you are just going to make mashed potatoes using turnips instead. Freeze the mashed turnips in sandwich bags and pull out an instant side dish anytime you need one. You wont see this on any 5 star restaurant menus but definitely better than eating some processed junk in a can. |