How to grow kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family that stores its energy in a swollen stem sitting right at the soil line, rather than in a root or a head of leaves. Gardeners grow it for a crisp, mild flavor often compared to a cross between broccoli stem and apple, eaten raw in slaws and on vegetable trays or cooked into stir-fries; the leaves above the bulb are edible as well. It is a quick, cool-season crop, usually worked into a spring bed ahead of the summer vegetables, or timed for harvest after the fall heat breaks.

The hardest part of growing kohlrabi well is catching the bulb at the right size. University of Minnesota Extension notes it should be picked at 2 to 3 inches across; left longer, the stem turns tough, woody and bitter. Because the swollen stem looks nearly full size before it truly is, a second-year gardener checking the bed only once a week can watch a promising kohlrabi cross that threshold between visits. The core turns fibrous enough that cooking cannot soften it, and the head goes to the compost pile instead of the cutting board.