turnips

Turnips From Seed to Harvest

Planting + Growing

Growing turnips in the garden is easy when planted under the right conditions. Turnips like full sun to partial shade. Your soil should be loose enough to drain well. Turnips can grow crowded, but roots will be smaller. To optimize growth and a bountiful harvest, follow the spacing guidelines below.

Starting from Seed. If you're starting from seed, plant 1 - 2 seeds about 1/4 - 1/2 an inch down in a small container of soil. Water the soil and place it in a sunny area. Check the soil daily to water if necessary. Once your seeds sprout and have true leaves, transplant them outside or into a larger container with about 12 - 18 inches of space in between each plant.

Starting from Seedling. If you picked up a turnip seedling from Sweet Water's seedling pick up, plant the seedlings into soil, allowing ~12 - 18 inches of spacing between each plant.

Container growing turnips. A turnip will grow in an 8-inch pot. In larger containers, like a garden bed, you can plant more than one turnip, 12 - 18 inches apart from each other and away from the edge of the garden bed.

Other notes...companion plants. Herbs including rosemary, basil, and thyme. Vegetables such as sweet peas and pole beans

Harvesting

You can begin to harvest your greens when your turnip tops are looking full and about 5 inches tall. You can wait longer for larger leaves. Cut the outer leaves first to allow the tender inner leaves to grow. Turnip bottoms can be harvested 50 - 60 days after seeding.

Rinse off leaves and the root and store them in the refrigerator in ventilated plastic bags.

Cooking

• More info coming soon....

Links to More Resources

• More info coming soon....