Firm, heavy roots that melt in the mouth once cooked, and leafy tops good enough to make a soup of their own: the turnip (Brassica rapa) is a watery, fibre-rich, low-calorie vegetable for humus-rich, well-drained soil in full sun. Keep that soil cool and slightly moist, and the flavour truly stands out.
| Name | Brassica rapa or napus |
|---|---|
| Family | Brassicaceae |
| Type | vegetable |
| Height | 8 to 16 inches (20 to 40 cm) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | humus-rich, well-drained |
| Harvest | mid-spring to early winter |
From sowing to harvesting, caring and preserving, every step is important and helps produce quality turnips.
Cultivate turnips from spring to fall to provide for food almost all year round.
Sowing turnips is best indoors from late winter onwards or directly in the ground from mid-spring to early autumn.
The most common parasite attacking turnips is the turnip flea beetle. This is a small black flea that drills small holes in turnip leaves and can have a devastating impact on your harvest if you don’t catch the infestation early enough.
Parent flies lay eggs near the root crown of turnips, which hatch into larvae that burrow underground and feed on the roots.
This white butterfly also lays eggs on turnip leaves, but caterpillars will only attack air-born parts. If you catch these caterpillars, the main root harvest will be safe!
Slugs definitely love turnip leaves, and they can destroy an entire production in just a few days.
Blight is one of the most devastating diseases for turnips. In the summer, heat and high moisture spur the growth of this fungus.
This is a disease that causes yellowing on leaves. Aphids spread the virus, and leaves develop chlorotic yellow spots. It can infect all cabbages and lettuce.
There isn’t any treatment, so do your best to control aphids.
Turnips attract a handful of very different enemies, and the cure depends entirely on which part of the plant is under attack. Use the table to match what you see to what you should do.
| Problem | Part attacked | What you see | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnip flea beetle | Leaves | Small black fleas drilling small holes in the leaves | Spray water on the leaves morning and evening; fit insect-proof mesh |
| Turnip root fly (summer cabbage fly) | Roots | Larvae burrowing underground and feeding on the roots; plants stop maturing | Destroy infested plants, grow thyme, rosemary or fennel nearby, hang yellow glue traps in spring |
| Cabbage moth | Leaves and other air-borne parts | White butterflies laying eggs, then caterpillars chewing the foliage | Catch the caterpillars; the main root harvest will then be safe |
| Slugs | Leaves | Foliage eaten away, a whole crop lost in a few days | Set up organic slug traps |
| Blight | Whole plant | Fungus spreading in summer heat and high moisture | Destroy sick plants; spray Bordeaux mixture regularly as prevention |
| Mosaic virus | Leaves | Yellowing foliage with chlorotic yellow spots | No treatment exists; control the aphids that spread it |
Most of these troubles are avoided by companion planting and by waiting three years before turnips return to the same spot.
Harvest turnip around 2 months after sowing for spring and summer varieties, and 3 months after for winter turnips.
During the harvest, turnips must feel firm and heavy, and they must be harvested ripe for them to really stand out once cooked.
Spring and summer turnip are best harvested just when you plan to eat them; they will also keep well in a cool and ventilated place.
Fall and winter turnip are also best harvested ripe, but to extend their keeping you can put them away in dark, cool and ventilated place.
The best way to avoid diseases is to enhance your turnips’ defense mechanisms through companion planting and crop rotation.
Turnips DREAD growing near garlic.
Turnips LOVE growing near thyme, rosemary, lettuce and pea.
For crop rotation, the best thing to do, especially to fight flea beetle, is to plant turnips and rutabaga in alternate years.
But turnips are vegetables that heavily drain soil nutrient reserves and it’s best to wait 3 years before planting turnips in the same spot.
Turnips are commonly sown after peas or beans in a rotation, though as a root crop they may run to leaf at the expense of the root if nitrogen levels are high.
Claims that onions, shallots and leeks harm nearby turnips come from companion-planting folklore, and the charts disagree, so position alliums according to spacing, light and crop-rotation needs rather than any supposed antagonism.
Turnips keep easily over several weeks, preferably in a cellar or in a cool room.
To keep winter turnips best, leave them in the ground until midwinter, at least those that have been sown as late as possible.
If you only need to keep them a few days, the vegetable rack in your refrigerator is fine.
Twist the leaves off before storing, leaving only a short stub of stalk.
Do not wash turnips destined for the cellar or the sand box; simply brush the dry soil off with your hand.
Set aside any root nicked by the fork or tunnelled by root fly larvae and eat those first, because damaged flesh rots and the rot spreads to the roots packed alongside.
For winter turnips staying in the ground, spread a thick straw mulch over the row so the soil stays workable and you can still lift roots in frozen weather.
Native to Asia, it is said that turnips are excellent in treating winter infections and also have a positive effect on skin.
Turnips are full of water, fiber-rich and harbor very few calories, which make them ideal vegetables for bowel functions.
Boasting high potassium content, turnips help prevent common ailments such as the flu or bronchitis.
When cooked, their many flavors flourish around the palate and if freshly picked they don’t even need any peeling. They then melt in the mouth.
Turnips are also delicious in soups, roots of course, but also leaves which you can blend into delicious turnip leaf soup.
Beware of letting the ground dry up, water generously during the hotter months. Small turnips do not like heat waves. Plant them near tomatoes or pole beans for shade.
Don’t throw the leaves away but eat them in delicious soups.
