Growing Turnips (Purple Top, White Globe)

Turnips are a root crop. They can be eaten raw or cooked. Even the leaves and the roots can be eaten but so far I have not been game enough to try the roots and leaves.

We will post photos of our plants growing.

According to the Lunar Calendar, we need to plant our turnips from September 19th to the 25th.

Turnips can be planted with any of the vegetables we are growing for the Fall.

The turnip we are growing is the purple top, white globe. It is the traditional American turnip. Selected strain of this traditional, Southern U.S. variety. Smooth, round roots, avg. 3-4" in diameter, are white below the soil line and bright purple above. Large, lobed greens.

If you want to try to produce your own seeds, this turnip can be used for this. We will talk more about seed propagation later in the season.

Sow turnips in early spring through late summer in a 2" wide band, seeds 1" apart for small turnips 2" for larger turnips. Plant the seeds 1/4- 1/2" deep, in rows 12-18" apart.

Harvest young growing turnips when they are radish-size in about 30 days, full size in 40-50 days. Roots are smoothest when small. Store turnips with their tops at 32°F and 95% humidity for 10-14 days.

9-27-09

In the picture are the turnips emerging. We received some rain and cooler temps so I thought they may not emerge as hoped but they are doing great.

10-10-09

Below is our turnips. They are coming along but all the rain and cloudy days we have had has slowed their growth down. However, we are thankful for the rain. I have had about 7" of rain in three weeks.

11-07-09

Below is a picture on how to grow turnips in the greenhouse. They are doing good and should be ready for harvesting in a couple of weeks.

I am not sure why one end is growing larger than the other though.

12-20-09

I harvest the Golden Globe turnips a few weeks ago. They looked great and tasted even better. My wife, who does not like them, even added them to her soup and said they were good.

I took pictures but my son accidentally erased them. Below is a picture I took of one that I did not harvest. It should be ready in a few days.

1-24-2010Below are some turnips we finally harvested. They tasted great and came out just as they should have.

Thank you for your visit.

Return to Turnip Home Page from Growing Turnips.

Post your Garden Story, Question or Picture

Do you have a garden story, question or picture you would like to share with Vegetable Gardening Made Easier and its readers? The post it!

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...