I'm always looking for easy things to grow. This Thanksgiving, I travelled Scotland. On the train back to London, I was looking out the window when I noticed large turnip fields. The climate there was cold and drizzly. Very much like our winters here at Tassajara. I like turnips, but I had never tried growing them. I was intrigued with the idea of growing them in my winter garden. I had to try.When I returned home, I got some seeds and promptly planted them directly in the ground. The weather was mild, and they sprouted quickly. But as the temperatures grow colder, the turnips grew more slowly. The cold weather did not kill them, but growth did stop when the temperature dropped. And when we had warm spells, growth resumed. My feeling is that late November / early December was not ideal. They would have thrived better had they started in September and got two months of mild weather.
Never-the-less, nature is forgiving and we have success at last. It's been about three months, and at least part of the crop is now ready for harvest. I got some beautiful purple and white ones. Mmmm. If you have a good turnip recipe, let me know, there are plenty more where these came from!
2 comments:
Turnips are best with other root vegetables, roasted and drizzled with olive oil and thyme. Best with lamb.
Mmmm. lamb. I still have some carrots. I don't have any Thyme in the garden, though I should. I do have some very special Majoram I got last year, so aeromatic. Maybe that would be a reasonable substitute? With Rosemary too!
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