Ping-pong turnips

Hakurei turnips with white flesh

Turnips are a cool-weather crop that is surprisingly cold-hardy. Fall crops are often sweeter and provide for a longer period than spring plantings. This is because the increasing light and heat of the spring and summer triggers turnip plants to produce flowers and seeds instead of new leaves. However, it is possible to harvest sweet turnips in the spring, provided that they are planted early and harvested young (about 2-3 inches in diameter). Older turnips can get tough, pithy, and bitter. 

About 2-3 weeks before my region's last frost, I planted Hakurei turnips directly in the garden by broadcast seeding them between the Walla Walla onions I overwintered last year. This was a great success! Since turnips are fast growing, their dense foliage helped to shade out weeds that would have sprouted up between the onions.

Today I harvested the first batch of spring sown Hakurei turnips. These turnips resemble ping-pong balls. How fun!

Since both the root and leaves are edible, I am on a search for a new tasty recipe to make with the roots and leaves that does not involve bacon grease!