How to grow turnips in a South Australian veggie patch
How to grow turnips in a South Australian veggie patch
Turnips get walked straight past on the seed rack, and I think that's mostly a marketing problem rather than a gardening one, because if you're after something that comes up fast, doesn't need perfect soil and gives you two crops off one plant, a turnip is about as forgiving as a vegetable gets. They're also cheap enough that a failed row costs you a couple of dollars and a fortnight, which matters a lot when you're still working out what your patch does.
Why they suit a beginner patch
Most turnip varieties are ready in 6 to 8 weeks, and pulled young at about golf ball size they're sweet and crisp rather than the woody thing people remember from a stew. They aren't fussy about soil the way carrots are, and once they're established they handle a cold snap and a dry week far better than lettuce does. The bit that surprises people is the leaves, which cook up like silverbeet and taste slightly peppery raw, so one plant feeds you twice and almost nothing goes in the bin.
Sowing them
- Pick a spot that drains. A raised bed or a decent sized pot will both do the job. What kills a root crop is water sitting around it, not poor soil.
- Sow direct. About 1cm deep, straight into damp soil, because root crops hate being transplanted and turnips are no exception.
- Thin to 10cm. Do it once the seedlings have their first true leaves. Crowded turnips make leaves and no root, and thinning feels wasteful right up until the day you pull the first one.
- Feed lightly. A balanced fertiliser worked in before sowing is plenty. Pile on the nitrogen and you get a magnificent bush of leaves sitting on top of nothing.
- Water evenly. Dry then soaked then dry is what splits a turnip open. Steady is the whole trick.
When to pull them
Start pulling at golf ball size and keep going. A turnip left in the ground to get big doesn't get better, it gets tougher and hotter, so the mistake is almost always waiting rather than rushing. If you sow a short row every 3 weeks instead of one long row all at once you'll be picking them for months, and that's the single thing that changes a veggie patch from a glut and a gap into something you actually eat out of.
What to do with them
Baby turnips are good raw and sliced thin into a salad. Roasted, they caramelise much the same way a pumpkin does, and in an air fryer they crisp up faster than a potato. The leaves go into a stir fry or get wilted like spinach. None of that needs a recipe, it just needs somebody to tell you the leaves are edible, which nobody ever does.
The seed rack and everything that goes with it lives in the garden centre, and there's usually somebody floating around out there who will tell you what suits your patch.
Shop related products
- D.T. Brown Seeds Radish Cherry Belle. Even faster than a turnip and sown exactly the same way.
- D.T. Brown Seeds Silver Beet Fordhook Giant. For the same reason you eat turnip tops, only bigger.
- D.T. Brown Seeds Lettuce Green Mignonette. A pick as you need it lettuce to go beside the row.
- Brunnings Seed Raising Mix 5L. Useful for topping a seed drill so fine seed doesn't get lost.
- Seamungus 500g. A gentle pelletised feed for working in before you sow.
Did you know we also stock the DT Brown Turnip Milan Purple Top seed in the shop, and it isn't on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The rest of the range is in the garden centre collection and the seed is in DT Brown seeds.
Read next
- Building a patch around the overlooked root crops.
- Crop rotation and soil fatigue, so the next thing in that bed does as well.
- What seed raising mix actually does.
I'm a big fan of anything that grows faster than I can lose interest in it.
Candeece
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