I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

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TomHillbilly
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I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#1

Post: # 17792Unread post TomHillbilly
Sun Apr 19, 2020 4:24 pm

Its never to late to learn something new. I'm kinda embarrassed to tell this, because it displays my ignorance. Not everyone likes rutabagas, I happen to be one that does. Mainly because I know how to cook um up right, least that is what I thought ?? Rutabagas must have sugar in them to get that golden color, that comes with the flavor. Without that, rutabagas are bitter brown. A large pot, heaped handful of sugar, salt, water, and vegetable oil, then cook exactly like you do cabbage. They eat better the second time, and store well in the refrigerate for 8 days.  I had grown rutabagas in the spring going to waste. Because many people will not eat them. I happened to ask a old widow woman up the road, if she wanted some. She hadn't lived there long. Her eyes lighted up, as she said would love to have some. So I took her plenty enough to do her awhile. I began to tell her how to fix um, ASSUMING she might not know. She told me she loved them with neck bones. And she politely said, she could manage fixing um on her own. LOL. Then she told me she liked the tops, far better than the roots. I tried not to make a face. I had heard the tops was eatable. But had never tried them. Later toward the Fall, I was picking curly, and mustard greens. I like to fix enough at one time, to last all week. That means a trash bag full. I hate the thoughts of bugs, or bug eggs. So it was taking a lot of time to sort out bad leafs. I stopped, and looked at the second batch of late rutabaga tops. They had no bugs at all. So I harvested them instead. Picking only 1/3 the leafs off each plant. Because the roots was only halfway mature.  To my surprise, I liked them better than any of the greens. And it don't take near as many. Because rutabagas don't cook down like regular greens. PS-- later on I found out that widow woman had grew up in Alabama, and had hand picked cotton, as a child. She was the real rutabaga//greens specialist--not me. The short of it is---If you got a patch of ground about the size of average bedroom. And want some cool weather crop to grow in it, then try rutabagas. Its a dual purpose crop. It will give ya all the greens you want. Then you can eat the roots. And if your nights don't get below 25 degrees, than they will do great. I wasted the tops for years. LOL
Last edited by TomHillbilly on Sun Apr 19, 2020 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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worth1
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#2

Post: # 17795Unread post worth1
Sun Apr 19, 2020 5:48 pm

I love rutabagas tops and bottoms.
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Clkeiper
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#3

Post: # 17815Unread post Clkeiper
Sun Apr 19, 2020 8:17 pm

this is the first year I have plans to grow them. I have never eaten then though. I was fortunate enough to just ask at Holmes seed when we were there afew weeks ago if they had them in stock. no one else seemed to have any when I asked. I wasn't expecting to get a positive answer. sure enough I got 5 bucks worth of seed. it was a lot of seeds.

TomHillbilly
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#4

Post: # 17824Unread post TomHillbilly
Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:45 pm

@Clkeiper-- Not that I'm a excellent grower of them. But you might find this useful. Some people can sow the seeds just like they do greens. They can evenly distribute them. And lightly rake in, with great success. I'm not one of those people. LOL.. Mine comes up thick here--and scarce there. And many seeds fail. I also have a horrible ant problem throughout the grounds, near the house. Unless I want to make my lawn a chemical dump site, I just have to live with them. I can't plant squash, watermelon, cucumber, and cushaw seeds in a heel, the common way. If I do, those ants will kill over half my plants, while they are just 2 leafs. So I have to raise those things in 4-6pk trays, then set out after they are a bit tougher. Generally that takes 15 to 18 days after seeded. I have better luck doing the same with rutabagas. This means I will have no huge gaps in my patch. And rows can be uniformed. Thus using less space. I generally do around 30 plants 9 inches apart, in rows 2 feet apart. Close like that, hopefully they will choke the weeds out. The seeds are good for several years. I just tweezer them in potting soil trays, I know this is not the normal way. But If you have failures at sowing the normal way. Then hold back 50 seeds to try the other way, just in case. 50 seeds would be smaller than the size of a kitchen match. You most likely can get 40 adult plants, out of 50 seeds, planting the they way I told ya. From the day you sow them, they can be ready to plant in 21 to 25 days generally. Try the normal way first-- and then my way, if you aren't satisfied.

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karstopography
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#5

Post: # 17845Unread post karstopography
Mon Apr 20, 2020 6:45 am

Russian Red Kale is a rutabaga. I love Russian red kale for the leaves, great fresh in massaged kale salads (it’s really a thing) and winter soups. I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten a rutabaga root, at least not knowingly. This winter, my Russian red kale got infested with aphids. The Tuscan kale was spared. The previous winter, my Russian red kale kept us in fresh greens all season.

I’m not sure what I would do with a rutabaga root. Is there an introduction to rutabagas recipe that might be enticing to the uninitiated to rutabagas.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

Clkeiper
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#6

Post: # 17850Unread post Clkeiper
Mon Apr 20, 2020 8:02 am

[mention]TomHillbilly[/mention]
Thank you so much. I was planning on starting them in trays and setting them out seeing how far apart the need thinning. that was my plan so now I am sticking to it for sure.

[mention]karstopography[/mention] I did not know that. I have russian red kale growing out in the greenhouse right now and need to get it planted out somewhere.

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brownrexx
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#7

Post: # 17851Unread post brownrexx
Mon Apr 20, 2020 8:14 am

[mention]Clkeiper[/mention] I really like rutabagas and I direct seed them in early summer so that they mature in early Fall when the weather cools. This gives the bulbs a sweeter taste. I have never tried eating the leaves but hubby loves the tops of beets and we have been eating those. They store really well in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator in a plastic bag with the top open.

[mention]karstopography[/mention] my favorite way to cook them is roasted in the oven as cubes with olive oil and seasoning. I have also had good results with making spirals and sauteing them in olive oil. Some people mash them like potatoes but we didn't care for those.

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GoDawgs
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#8

Post: # 17856Unread post GoDawgs
Mon Apr 20, 2020 8:57 am

Thanks for posting this. I've never been real successful growing rutabagas although I can grow turnips just fine. Go figure. I think it's a temperature thing since rutas take longer than turnips to grow. It gets too hot too fast in spring and they get woody. To get them to finish in the fall I'd have to plant them when it's too hot. Nothing likes August heat here! If I wait until later in September when it starts cooling off, it takes them all winter to grow. There's got to be a sweet spot somewhere!

And for sure I've never had the greens. My sister doesn't like rutas but then I've never cooked them with neckbones like your friend down the road. Anything tastes good cooked like that! I'm going to have to try them again this fall. The feed 'n weed has plenty of seed for cheap. :D

TomHillbilly
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#9

Post: # 17858Unread post TomHillbilly
Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:05 am

@karstopography --- Someday you are in one of your larger supermarkets. Pick up 3 to 4 rutabagas that are larger than a softball. Most average size markets will have rutabagas on display toward the Fall months. They are more scarce other months. Peal them just like you would a tater. Cut them up in chunks larger that you would, if you was frying potatoes. Place in a pot, and cover to where water is slightly below covering completely. Put in some salt, and vegetable oil-- about a half a cup oil. This is the exact way I boil cabbage. So salt about like you would cabbage. Bare in mind a Rutabaga is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. You will be pouring off the liquids, just like you do with green beans, and cabbage. So don't worry about the vegetable oil. You can't ruin it by having to much. Here is the important part. Unlike cooking cabbage, you need to pour in a GOOD heaped hand full of sugar. A little more, if its a huge pot. The sugar will be poured off also. You will boil um 15 minutes, then check often. Cook until they are tender, but don't fly apart into mush. Check on um often, like you would cabbage. Store bought ones take longer, because they coat them with wax. The ones you grow will cook much faster. You want to present them like fried potatoes. This is a side dish that goes excellent with anything that cornbread does. Think of it as a cabbage and potato substitute. They are kinda weak on flavor the first day fixed. They will get stronger each day in the refrige. They have a long refrigerator shelf life. Some people won't even eat them the first day they fix um. They prefer them as leftovers. If for any reason, they don't come out a golden color, and are brown instead. Those will be bitter, you didn't use enough sugar. To much sugar will make um have a candy taste. You will get the knack of how much sugar you need, by trial and era. Fix um a few times--then decide if you want to grow them. They are extreme easy to grow. They don't do good in real hot temperature. Frost won't hurt them. You can fix the tops any way you have fixed other greens. You can harvest 1/3 the leafs off any plant, at any pickings. I generally wait until the leafs are pretty big. As I cut the leaf off-- I will reach back into it with meat scissors, and take a bit of the stem off, if its large and tuff. I do the same with greens. You can collect greens off of them 3 times easy.
They will do good up until your ground freezes. If you plant them late. If you plant early, they can be planted as early as cabbage--maybe even earlier.
PS-- I'm no exotic cook--this is the old country way. LOL. The top part might have a extremity firm core down to 1/2 deep, below the top. Kinda like a pineapple core. Toss that part away. It won't cook up. The younger ones won't have it. You can store them 2 to 3 months in a cool place in your house.
I'm in zone 7. I generally dig up the rest of the uneaten ones around Christmas.

TomHillbilly
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#10

Post: # 17861Unread post TomHillbilly
Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:17 am

@GoDawgs-- You nailed it. Its the temperature//timing thing. Once I was sent turnip seed, instead of Rutabagas. I thought I was growing Rutabagas the entire time. They are exactly alike. I got suspicious when I sliced them. And when they boiled up white, instead of golden-- then I knew. LOL. That much sugar in turnips was nasty.
If you plant them late, sometimes the colder air can slow um down. I'm in zone 7, and mistimed it this past year. I never got any roots until Christmas. And for some reason they cooked in 10 minutes. Any longer, they became mush. Growing them early is easier, I think.

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Nan6b
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#11

Post: # 17862Unread post Nan6b
Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:21 am

I moved this topic to the "Root Crops" forum.

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GoDawgs
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Re: I threw away the best part of a plant for years.

#12

Post: # 17872Unread post GoDawgs
Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:35 am

TomHillbilly wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:17 am @GoDawgs-- You nailed it. Its the temperature//timing thing. Once I was sent turnip seed, instead of Rutabagas....If you plant them late, sometimes the colder air can slow um down. I'm in zone 7, and mistimed it this past year. I never got any roots until Christmas. And for some reason they cooked in 10 minutes. Any longer, they became mush. Growing them early is easier, I think.
I just checked my recorded historical temp data for this location and in February the weather depends on the year. The average daily low for the month can be anywhere from 35 to 43 with a few 20's sprinkled in there. BUT... I might could steal a march on the weather by starting them in a plastic tunnel. With 80-100 DTM that finish is getting close to hot weather time. Hmmm, I'll have to think on this. It might turn out to be another thing like beets, where I've tried for five years and haven't yet found a spring or fall sweet spot for them and so I've just given up. Geez, I hate saying that! :(

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