How to grow turnips

Turnip is a fast, cool season root crop that home gardeners grow for two harvests from one planting: the swollen root and the leafy tops, which cook down like a savory green. It suits both ends of the growing season, going in as one of the first crops of spring and again in mid to late summer for a fall crop. Because it moves from seed to a usable root in about two months, it works well as a quick filler between other crops, and a fall sowing gives a second chance at that bed once summer crops finish.

The hardest part of growing turnip well is pulling it on time. University of Minnesota Extension notes that as the root enlarges beyond a usable size, it grows more likely to turn bitter, strong flavored, woody, or fibrous, especially if it matures during hot weather. A second year gardener used to letting root crops size up for a bigger harvest often leaves turnips past the two to three inch mark, expecting more food for the wait. Instead the interior turns pithy and the flavor sharpens, and the root ends up fit only for the compost pile.