How do you grow Turnips and rutabagas

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Clkeiper
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How do you grow Turnips and rutabagas

#1

Post: # 15077Unread post Clkeiper
Thu Mar 26, 2020 5:15 pm

Are they similar in needs and space?
what do you do with them once they are mature?
how big do I let them get?
how do I store them? or don't I?
recipes or cooking method?
I have never eaten either of these. If I can find rutabaga seeds I will grow some. I have turnips already started.

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worth1
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Location: 25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas

Re: How do you grow Turnips and rutabagas

#2

Post: # 15084Unread post worth1
Thu Mar 26, 2020 5:48 pm

Ill get to you tomorrow I am mentally whipped out. :(
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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brownrexx
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Location: Southeast PA, zone 6b

Re: How do you grow Turnips and rutabagas

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Post: # 15090Unread post brownrexx
Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:35 pm

I like rutabagas. To me they taste like a sweeter version of a turnip. They taste best when kissed by frost to make them sweeter so I wait until summer to plant them so that I get a crop in the Fall.

They take up about the same amount of space as beets or turnips in the garden. I wash them and cut off the tops leaving about an inch of leaves and store them loosely in plastic bags in my crisper drawer. I leave the top of the bags open and they store this way for several months.

I like to cube than and roast with other root veggies but last year I bought a spiralizer and I made rutabaga spirals which I sauteed with lemon pepper in olive oil. We decided that this is our new favorite way to eat them.

Some people like to mash them like potatoes but I have never done that.

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bower
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Re: How do you grow Turnips and rutabagas

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Post: # 15101Unread post bower
Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:54 pm

We grow the Japanese white turnips, Hakurei and similar. They are a fast crop and if left too long they can be less perfect, and develop a stronger taste. Keep them well watered. A tender Hakurei about the diameter of an egg tastes more like a melon to me than a rutabaga (which we call turnip here). Sliced in a salad, just delicious. The greens are just like rutabaga IMO - I like them lightly steamed or wilted with a little sesame oil, or served with mustard.
Rutabaga is a traditional root veg/ storage veg here. They can be grown in very poor soil conditions but need boron added if there's none in the soil or they may have defects like hollow heart, woodiness etc. Our folks would clear trees to make a garden patch, and they kept a pig on it for the first summer, to root out the stumps. The next year they sowed 'turnips' as that was the only crop that could be grown without further work on the soil. This is a main vegetable in soups and stews here, diced up with the carrots and onions. It is pretty excellent in a moose or rabbit stew. Also served as a side mashed with butter and pepper. I like the sound of lemon pepper better, I have to try that!
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

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