Turnips are good for any yard, and you have to use companion planting to assist them develop even elevated. Permaculture Analysis Institute describes companion planting as “A gardening methodology which makes use of the synergistic properties present in nature: cooperation between crops to grasp optimum successfully being and viability.”
Companion planting brings long-term soil stability, concord, coloration, and choice to the homestead yard. Companion crops current shade and shelter, repel crop-destroying insect pests, and improve yard soil with very important dietary nutritional vitamins.
Moreover, companion crops enhance the flavour of shut by greens, attraction to useful pollinators, within the discount of the necessity for chemical-based herbicides and pesticides, and helps retain soil moisture.
Turnips Are Terrific Companions
Turnips are pure aphid repellents, defending each sort of yard crops which is maybe weak to aphid invasion. Squash, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, beans, onions, garlic, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, cauliflower, and radishes all flourish when planted interspersed with turnips.
Turnips are “greatest buddies” with nitrogen-fixing peas. Plant turnips all through the underside of helps or trellises for candy peas and pole beans.
To maintain rabbits, deer, rodents, and bugs from nibbling on tender turnip leaves, plant turnips close to strongly scented herbs akin to rosemary, basil, thyme, horehound, borage, hyssop, lavender, and every kind of mint.
Whereas mint is among the many many best herbs to repel plant predators, it could be invasive and is greatest potted in containers to stop it working rampant by the yard.
When planting, keep in mind surrounding the turnip patch with vetch, which reinforces the soil with very important minerals and helps administration widespread weeds.
Take into consideration companion planting merely shouldn’t be an exact science, nonetheless pretty one which’s developed by trial and error. When establishing a rural or metropolis homestead yard, it’s useful to make uncover of the best way through which you group crops contained in the yard and which of them have been most useful to 1 one different. Don’t plant turnips close to utterly completely different root crops akin to parsnips, carrots, potatoes, or beets due to they compete for a similar dietary nutritional vitamins contained in the soil.
All About Turnips
A cool-weather biennial cultivated as an annual, the turnip (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa) presents daring inexperienced leaves and a white-skinned, bulbous taproot or tuber. Your whole turnip plant is edible. The turnip is a terribly nutritious vegetable experiencing new reputation with homestead gardeners.
The plant is every grown as a root vegetable or for the flavorful and really nutritious inexperienced leaves. Toddler turnips, the turnips which have nevertheless to develop their brightly coloured tops, look considerably like an unlimited, white spring radish. Toddler Bunch turnips are a range that’s harvested and preferred as soon as they’re solely regarding the measurement of marbles.
There are quite a few distinctive sorts of turnip presenting a quite a few palette of coloration and class. Favourite varieties embody white, pink, and purple prime turnips. Turnips are labeled by sort: flat-bottomed, globular, or elongated. The most common type of turnip is the European sort acknowledged for its firm white flesh and violet-tinged prime. Are you conscious that there are bigger than fifty utterly differing forms of turnips?
Turnip roots can be boiled, steamed, stewed, roasted, deep-fried, pickled, or served uncooked. Strive turnips mashed half and half with new potatoes and a beneficiant dollop of butter. Grated or diced, uncooked turnips also can add model and crunch to sandwiches and salads.
Turnip greens are served evenly steamed or chopped newest in salads and salsa. The tender youthful greens add a candy and spicy wallop of mouth-watering model.
Along with A Turnip Patch
Quick-growing turnips develop correctly in all elements of the US. Turnips, due to they’re root greens, shouldn’t be going to be broken by a quite a few array of bugs that assault above soil vegetation.
Purdue Faculty Extension Service notes, “Turnip is a cool-weather crop and correctly tailored for the northern elements of the US and Europe and for Good Britain and Canada. Nonetheless, truck-growing areas of the South furthermore produce turnip roots and greens in all seasons for human consumption.”
Rising Data
Turnips are humble tubers which is maybe simple to develop. Turnips thrive in a full-sun location with well-drained, nutrient-rich soil. Skilled turnip growers advocate amending the soil prior to planting with beneficiant parts of well-aged herbivore (cow, horse, goat, sheep) manure. Work the soil correctly, incorporating manure whereas eradicating rocks and roots.
Turnip rising specialists advise, “Steer clear of utilizing newest manure. Turnips shouldn’t be going to be very eager on this due to it brings up the nitrogen content material materials supplies of the soil making the roots style too sturdy.”
- Turnips do greatest in yard soil with a pH of 5.5 to six.8. The pH stage of yard soil could very nicely be checked with a pH try instruments accessible on-line or from native yard facilities. It’s possible you’ll even take a soil pattern to your county extension workplace for testing. Amend pH ranges as really helpful.
- Work the soil correctly prior to planting. The feel ought to be mealy, moist, and crumbly. An addition of pure, well-aged compost improves nutrient content material materials supplies and texture of the soil to make sure a bountiful harvest.
- Plant turnip seeds straight contained in the yard 3-4 weeks prior to the final word frost of spring. As rapidly as a result of the soil warms to on the very least 40 ranges Fahrenheit, seed germination happens in every week to 10 days. A fall planting of turnips typically offers a sweeter and longer harvest. For a fall harvest, sow seeds in mid-summer, on the very least two months prior to the primary frost.
Figuring out Turnip Varieties
Planting Turnips
Plant turnip seeds in even rows spaced 18 to 24 inches aside. Cowl seeds with a couple of half-inch of soil. As seedlings develop, skinny crops to about 4 inches aside. When seedlings are well-established and about six inches tall, apply a heavy layer of pure mulch to the soil floor to retain moisture and administration weeds.
For the sweetest and most flavorful turnips, defend the soil uniformly moist. Don’t permit the soil to dry out. Turnips require on the very least one inch of water per week. Be sure that the soil is well-drained. If the soil is soggy with standing water, turnip roots will rot. Be affected explicit individual, turnips require 50 to 60 days to attain maturity.
Turnip Harvest And Storage
Harvest by digging or pulling. Newest, tender leaves could very nicely be trimmed off the plant at any time. Prep, put collectively dinner, and season turnip greens as you’d newest spinach.
Turnip tubers will retailer contained in the fridge crisper for as loads as six weeks, or you’ll be able to retailer turnips as you’d beets or potatoes in a root cellar for winter consumption.
TurnipRecipes.co.uk presents a treasure chest of turnip recipes, together with my favourite recipe for turnip wine.