Turnips

Turnip roots are a good source of vitamin C, calcium and iron.

Sandy, friable loam is the best soil for growing turnips, but you can grow turnips on almost any soil.

Turnip seeds can be sown many times during the year

If you are growing turnips in warm weather, it is a good idea to plant them in soil that is cool and that retains moisture well.

When planting turnips very early or very late in the year, use a light, sandy soil.

If you grow turnips in a light, sandy soil in warm weather, the soil may become very dry. Therefore, you should be sure to add a large amount of well-decomposed manure to the soil.

This will help the soil to retain moisture.

You should always make sure that there is lime in the soil.

Do not plant crops of turnips one after the other on the same piece of land. Make sure that there is time for the nutrients in the soil to be restored in between plantings.

For crops that are sown very early, you should add a generous amount of well-decayed manure to the soil. This will help the roots to develop as quickly as possible.

For later crops, simply rotating the manure should ensure that there is enough nitrogen in the soil.

You can also add a mixture of potassium sulfate and superphosphate to the soil.

If you are growing turnips in soil that is poor or is very sandy, you should add well-decayed manure as well as superphosphate and potassium sulfate.

Very Early Turnip Crops

Turnip seeds can be sown, at the earliest, from the end of January to the end of February.

The seeds should be sown on a bed of material that ferments, such as leaves or warm manure.

You can make the bed on the soil surface and cover it with box frames. The bed can also be made in a brick pit or in a trench in the ground. You can use litter or mats to protect the bed.

As soon as the seedlings begin to appear, water them every day and make sure that they have a good amount of air until the roots are ready to be pulled.

If you use frames, you sow the seeds on beds that are 15 inches thick.

You can make beds especially for the turnips, or you can use beds that were used previously for radishes or lettuces.

If the beds were used for other crops, they should have been remade around the end of February, trodden down, and covered with 3 inches of light, rich, firm compost.

You can scatter the turnip seeds over the soil, or you can place them in holes that are 4 ½ inches apart and 1 inch deep.

Place two or three turnip seeds in each hole and then close up the holes.

Once the seedlings start to appear, remove all of the seedlings but one from each hole.

If you have scattered the seeds over the soil, thin them out as soon as you can handle them. They should be thinned so that they are about 4 feet apart.

You can sow turnip seeds in hotbeds without frames. Throw out a block of soil that is 5 feet wide and 6 inches dep.

Place hot manure in the hotbed and then tread on it until it is 1 foot deep.

Then, take the soil that you threw out of the hotbed and spread it on top of the manure. Roll the soil or tread it down firmly.

Sow the seeds in holes that are 5 inches apart, cover them lightly with soil that is rolled or trodden in, and water the whole bed.

You should place mats on hoops and then lay them over the bed.

Keep the mats over the bed until the turnip seeds have germinated.

Then, remove the mats during the day and replace them at night.

Once the turnip plants are half grown, you should stop covering the plants at night. Instead, place the mats around the bed so that they form a screen that blocks the wind.

Instead of using mats, you can use a light coating of loose litter to protect the hot bed.

Scatter the liter over the bed every night until the plants are growing well.

Early Turnip Crops

Turnip seeds can be sown outside at the beginning of March, as soon as the ground is dry enough to work with.

The soil should be in a fine tilth before the seeds are grown.

You can scatter the seeds over the soil or place them in holes.

If you sow the seeds in holes, cover them with a light coating of soil, then press the soil down firmly.

The seeds will germinate immediately if the soil is moist enough.

Thin the seedlings as soon as they are big enough to handle.

At first, thin any thick clusters of plants. Later, thin the plants so that they are all at least 4 inches apart from their neighbors.

You can sow the seeds of fast-growing varieties of turnips in between rows of another vegetable, such as peas. The turnips will act as a catch crop. They will be taken up before the other vegetables are affected.

If you grow turnips as a catch crop, they will receive the benefits of whatever nutrients have been added to the soil for the main crop. You will probably only have to add some superphosphate to the soil near the rows of turnips.

Late Turnip Crops

Turnip seeds can be sown even later in the year.

When turnip seeds are sown this late, they should always be placed in holes. The rows should be no more than a foot apart.

Thin the plants so that they are 6 inches apart in each row.

For a summer harvest, you can sow turnip seeds as late as May.

When sowing seeds in May, be sure to protect the plants from the hot sun.

Turnips can grow in full sunshine, but they must not be deprived of moisture.

Make sure the surface soil has no weeds and is kept loose. This will prevent water from evaporating and help the plants to grow more quickly.

Very Late Turnip Crops

You can sow turnip seeds from the middle of July to the end of August. These seeds will produce plants that can be harvested in the winter.

Sow these plants in holes that are 1 ½ feet apart.

As with turnips sown in May, thin the plants so that they are 6 inches apart.

If you want the roots to remain in the ground over the winter, pull every other root in the late autumn, so that they are 1 foot apart.

To obtain turnip tops in the spring, sow seeds at the beginning of September. Sow the seeds thinly, in rows that are 2 feet apart. Do not thin the plants.

Storing Turnips

If you want to store turnips, cut off the tops so that ½ inch of the neck is let. Be sure not to cut the taproot - the edible part of the turnip.

Lay the taproots in small piles, cover them with straw, and then cover the straw with soil.