Turnips are a delicious root vegetable that you can grow in your own backyard.

Crestock

Turnips are easy to grow when planted in the right season and mature in just two months. They are biennials usually grown as annuals.

Although turnips are more of a staple in European kitchens, many southern gardeners like to grow them for the nutritious turnip greens.

Turnips grow best in a temperate climate but can endure light frost. Fall crops are usually sweeter and more tender than spring crops—and pests are less of a problem.

Turnips have been grown for over 3,000 years, and are especially valuable because all parts of the plants can be eaten (the swollen root and the greens). They are often used as a substitute for potatoes.

Planting

• Select a site that gets full Sun.
• Soil should be well-draining and loosened to a depth of 12 to 15 inches.
• Mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost. Till soil well.
• Start sowing as soon as the ground is workable.
• Scatter turnip seed. Do not cover the seeds with more than ½ an inch of soil.
• Once seedlings are 4 inches high, thin “early” types 2 to 4 inches apart and maincrop types to 6 inches apart. Do not thin if growing for greens only.

Care

• Keep the beds weed free.
• Mulch heavily.
• Water at a rate of 1 inch per week to prevent the roots from becoming tough and bitter.

Pests/Diseases

• Root Maggots
• Flea Beetles
• Powdery Mildew
• Downy Mildew
• Aphids

Harvest/Storage

• Harvest some turnips very early as turnip greens. 
• Harvest early types after about 5 weeks; maincrop types after 6 to 10 weeks.
• Harvest turnips at any size you wish. The small, young turnips are nice and tender.
• Pull mature turnips before they become woody and before the first frost.
• Store for up to 3 or 4 months in a cool outdoor place covered with straw.

Recommended Varieties

• ‘Just Right’
• ‘Purple Top White Globe’
• Recommended for the Upper Midwest are ‘Green Globe’ and ‘York Globe’
• If you are growing turnips primarily for their greens, most any turnip variety will do.

Wit & Wisdom

Turnips like a dry bed but a wet head.

Young turnips are so tender that you can peel and eat them just as you would an apple.

Turnips are often confused with rutabagas because they are similar, and people like to plant them together. The two root vegetables grow well under the same conditions, but rutabagas take four weeks longer to mature.

Many turnips are grown not for the root itself but for the turnip greens, which can be cooked or used in salads.

For other greens to use in your cuisine, see the Leafy Greens: Health Benefits page.

Recipes

• Turnip Soup
• Eastham Turnip Pie
• Turnip Creme Brulee
• Turnip Souffle

Cooking Notes

If you’re wondering how to cook turnips, you’re not alone. Both the turnip roots and greens are very nutritious. Turnip roots should generally be peeled and sliced before using them. Both turnip roots and turnip greens are often cooked.