I've been amused by a recent news item, "Eat turnips during vegetable shortage, suggests Therese Coffey" as I've been eating very nice turnips for years. Sure, the standard turnip, often sold as part of a "stew pack" in supermarkets can be pretty ordinary. Growing a similar crop in your garden may get you a better standard of vegetable but going a bit further can get you something fantastic!
Two sorts of Turnips
Maincrop/Winter Turnips
This is the standard turnip. Fairly large and capable of being stored, the flavour is fairly mild. Typical colours are yellow and green. You sow seeds July/August and harvest in October or later. They're decent eating.
But instead, consider (drum roll)
Early/Spring Turnips
These varieties are far less commonly seen. Ideally you pull them out of the garden at golf-ball size and eat them raw or lightly boiled. They're typically cream/purple. You sow seed February - June and harvest May - September. They have much more flavour.
The classic variety is "Purple Top Milan" and I've grown them on and off for years. This season, I even tried sowing seed in November under cloches and it's a bit soon to tell how well this will work - but they have germinated and seem to be growing well. As well as getting some more seed in the ground this month, I'm going to try a new-to-me variety, "Tokyo Cross" in April
So, if you're any sort of vegetable gardener, go buy a packet of turnip seeds and give them a whirl!
