Turnip

Brassica rapa

Turnips give you round roots and tender young leaves. Early kinds are ready in about six weeks. Sow a little and often in spring, then again in late summer for roots in autumn and winter. They need steady moisture. In dry soil the roots stay small and woody and the plants flower early.

Looking after it

Water: Normal watering suits them. Water in dry weather so the roots grow quickly and stay tender. A pot dries out fast, so water it often in summer. Feeding: They need little feeding. Soil improved with compost or well-rotted manure is enough, ideally dug in the autumn before. No extra feed is needed.

Harvest and keeping

Pull early turnips at golf-ball size to eat raw, or at tennis-ball size to cook. Bigger roots turn woody and bitter. You can cook young leaves up to 15 cm long like spinach. Twist off the leaves first. Autumn roots keep several weeks in trays of moist sand somewhere cool and frost-free. In mild areas you can leave them in the ground under fleece.

What can go wrong

Cabbage root fly. Young plants wilt because small white maggots tunnel into the roots. Cover the crop with fine insect mesh from the day you sow.
Clubroot. The roots are swollen and misshapen and the plants wilt on warm days. It stays in the soil for many years. Add lime to acid soil and don't grow turnips or other cabbages where it has appeared.
Slugs. Seedlings are eaten overnight and you see slime trails. Protect young plants, especially in damp weather.

Growing facts: RHS, UC ANR and seed-company sowing guides. Turnip care: RHS. How many to grow: Kansas State and University of Missouri extension. pH: University of Connecticut and University of Maryland extension.