Turnips

[paquebot]

Eastham turnip is more than likely B. napus since its origin was rutabaga. Many know it as Macomber turnip and it was strictly a New England vegetable until the past few years. (Search for it under that name.) Only a few farms in Massachusetts grew it. Seed was not available anywhere else. I received some seed in 2006 from someone connected with a grower. Jung's received a large coffee container full for their centennial year. Not knowing if that would be enough seed or if it would be popular, it was instead offered in their Vermont Bean catalog. It is quite a versatile plant since it can be used as a turnip, rutabaga, or collard. The catalog description says up to 8 pounds and that may be low. Thus it needs to be thinned or transplanted to a minimum of a foot apart. And some is already in the mail to you!

Martin

[Alan]

Patrick, I should have a large seed harvest coming this season at which time I"ll be sure to send you quite a bit of seed. It will also be on my 2010/11 seed list as well.

[PatrickW]

Thanks Martin! I read the Idig discussion, and I'll search around a little more later.

Alan: We'll be in touch.

[hiven]

I grow 2 types of turnips, shogoin (for the top and young white root) and goldball.
Both got white flesh and taste good. Sow from late summer and harvest from mid autumn onwards.

[extremegardener]

Gilfeather's nice, an old Vermont heirloom. B. napus, white skin/white flesh, medium sized and tending to be more roughly shaped than most other turnips/rutabagas I have grown. It is extremely cold hardy and overwinters here fairly reliably; and like parsnips, we don't eat them until they have been frozen, which makes them very sweet. During winter thaws, we dig them up.
The traditional way to eat them is mashed with potatoes, to which I like to add onion, kale and/or watercress.