Growing Turnips in Your Garden
Purple Top, White Globe Turnip
Planting Turnips
Are you planning your fall garden? If so, Turnips are definitely a plant to consider because they are much sweeter and tender when they are grown in the fall than when they are grown in any other season!
There are many types of turnips most are white and some are white and purple, but all taste great.
Planting
Planting:
The first item you need to take care of when planting turnips in your garden is location. Turnips need to receive a lot of direct sunlight. When choosing a location for your turnips, make sure it is a site in your garden that is given a bountiful amount of sunlight on an everyday basis. Also when choosing a location in your garden, you should also make sure the soil is well-drained, and is loosened to a depth of 12-15 inches.
Once you’ve found a location with good soil you will want to prepare the ground for planting your turnip seeds. Before planting your turnip seeds you will want to mix in compost. The layer of compost should be 2-4 inches thick. Make sure the soil is tilled well, and start sowing the ground as soon as it is workable.
Once you have tilled the soil and mixed in a good layer of compost you can scatter your turnip seeds in your garden. Once the turnip seeds are planted, be careful to not cover the seeds with more than a half-inch of soil.
A few weeks after you have planted your turnip seeds, seedlings should start appearing. Once these seedlings are 4 inches high, you will have to thin the “early” types to about 2-4 inches apart. The further apart they are, the bigger the turnip. You’ll want to thin the turnips in your maincrop to 6 inches apart. However, if you are only growing turnips for their greens, there is no reason to thin the seedlings.
Care
Care:
Be sure to keep your garden beds free of any weeds. Weeds will interfere with the growth of the turnips. Water your turnip plants at least 1 inch per week so that the roots won’t become tough and bitter. You will also want to mulch your turnip plants heavily to keep the moisture in.
Don’t miss out on planting turnips in your garden this fall! However, if turnips aren’t in your fall gardening plans, be sure to plan on having this vegetable in your garden next fall! To find out more information about growing turnips visit: http://www.davids-garden-seeds-and-products.com
