I love turnips!

[Tom]

One of my most favorite foods is turnip root (stem) and the greens.  The greens are good in soups, boiled up in a pot with some fat-back, ham hock or backbone and served as a stand-alone vegetable or as a cabbage substiture.  The roots(actually the stem) is good raw as a snack or boiled at the last minute with the greens or as a potato substitute.  I just love the things.

Mr. Doug showed me a 500 foot row of turnips his wife and son planted in October and told me to help myself.  "there's way more than we'll eat", he said.  

Do I look like I just fell off of a turnip truck?  Maybe that's not a good way to put it, but, I couldn't turn him down.  All afternoon I was thinking of turnips.  When we quit sawing, me and the boys decided to quit a little early, I ran to the turnip patch and helped myself to 3 plants.  

The leaves snapped off of the stem so easy that I was afraid I would lose them before I could get them into the truck.  Succulent and crisp they would crack off and spray water all over my arms.  The truck smelled so good on the way home.  I had visions of boiled greens and turnip root as I came in the house.  Washing them off, I put off preparing them for the pot long enough to get a picture so you could enjoy them too.  The leaves I dressed and put in the pot right away so that they could be boiling down.  I like my greens cooked to death.  Then I got this picture.  Big, aren't they?
I'd share them with you if you were here. :D

[etat]

Hey tom, what kind of turnips are those.  Around here everybody grows purple top and I've never seen any that big.  Also we mix mustard greens with the turnip greens.  Fixed a leak for free awhile back, while I was fixing it the lady was picking me a mess of greens and turnips.  She was about 70 years old or so.  I think I got the better end of the trade.

[dail_h]

   Shoot,they ain't enjff ta share. I love um too.

[Paul_H]

Those Turnips sure are rooty beggers.

[Bro. Noble]

I like turnips,  rooty-beggers,  and call-a-rabbi too.

I dice them along with onions and then boil them till they're mushey.  Then all salt and pepper,  butter,  and some dill seed.  Turnip tops I cook in bacon fat and vinigar with a little onion.

I'd rather have potatoes though :D :D :D

And wilted water cress-------now that's good 8)

[DanG]

CK, I grow a variety called "Shogoin" that has white roots like that.  They're grown for the greens as they have big leaves like a mustard. The roots have a milder flavor than purple tops.

My favorite is rutabegas. Y'all ever eat rutabega greens?  Had a mess of'em last nite, mixed with some purple top turnips. Just whacked up the greens, and roots and throwed'em in a pot with some water, salt and a big ol' chunk of ham. Man-Howdy they was good. ;D 8)

[J_T]

Hey Tom ever batter and fry any? They gooood 8) Slice better and fry each slice buddy of mine does his on a gril the coates them with butter.

[Texas Ranger]

Have ya ever noticed the look in Toms eyes when he sees food?  Reminds me of my old hound, Red, when he sees a pork chop.  Better be quick at the table, or ya might get bit.   :

[DanG]

Yep, and the grin, too.  I think they used to have a name for a grin like that, but I can't remember what it was. ??? :

[EZ]

My wife will boil one turnip in with the potatoes and mash them together. Aint nothing better.
EZ

[Bibbyman]

I've never developed a taste for turnips.  But Dad tells the story of when he was growing up one of a family of seven boys and one girl in the Great Depression...

They lived in an old farmhouse on someone else's farm and worked for the farmer.  Grandpa and the older boys had cleared a couple of acres of land and broke it to plow on the side.  The first crop they put in was turnips to help break up the new soil.   That fall the farmer gave them an old fat sow that must have weighed 600 lbs as a bonus for clearing the ground.  Dad said turnips and fatback was about all they had to eat on all that winter.

You'd think he'd had enough turnips but come winter,  nothing he likes better than a big pot of turnips and salted pork.  I'll go up for a visit and the smell of it cooking about knocks me down but they love'em.

[Keltic]

rooty beggers in Jiggs Dinner, Yum

[Tom]

They told me that those big white turnips were "Just Rights".


Funny thing.  It seems that all these chicken farmers have a green thumb.  Do you reckon that they are lucky to pick such rich soil for a crop? :D

[OneWithWood]

My wife and I eat turnips and turnip greens.  We just slice them up and eat them raw with a humus dip.  We wash the greens and throw them in with other greens for a tossed salad.  Good healthy eating

[Stan]

I usta like turnips, pulled 'em outa the ground, washed off the dirt, sprinkled a little salt on 'em and had at it. Now that I'm nearly toothless, I don't like 'em so much.  :-/

[Bro. Noble]

One good thing about turnips is that they are really easy to grow.  Drouthy summers are common in the Ozarks.  Not too many years ago when country people here grew or shot everything they ate,  turnips were a staple.  You can grow a good crop in the fall even if the dry summer reduced a lot of other stuff from the garden.  Turnips were fixed in lots of different manners to give some variety to the diet.  Turnip kraut is my favorite.  You schred it and pickle it just like cabbage kraut.

[MrMoo]

Tom,
Hay you lucky guy. Those are really nice turnips. Fresh veggies in December too!
Up here I've only grown the purple top ones and they never get that big. Nice to plant them in the spring though you get them in early June even before peas.

[EZ]

We tried to grow them a couple of times and they were always full of worms.
EZ

[DouginUtah]

When you are in Canada before Thanksgiving and Christmas you will find that the churches put on turkey dinners to raise some money. Almost always this includes turnips and parsnips.

But I believe the turnips are really rutabagas. They are not white--sort of an orange color. I'm mentioning this in hopes that someone will explain the difference.

About the only time I ever get turnips/rutabagas is when I go to Canada so I haven't maxed out on them--so I still love eating them.

-Doug

[Weekend_Sawyer]

 Turnups and Rootabega's (sp) add a great flavor to stew's. And I love em raw best of all. We used to grow them and would sit in the garden and eat them while working out there.

 Tom you sure got my mouth watering for turnups.

WS

[Weekend_Sawyer]

 Tom, I never knew you only had 3 fingers on one hand :-/
Was that a sawmillin accident? :'(

[Keltic]

Rutabagas are the orange fellas, I always found them tastier than turnips. I think some folks call them swedes too.

[Tom]

Actually, Jon, I have three fingers on each hand.  I also have the other finger and thumb on each hand too. :D  I sure hope it stays that way.   That picture must have the other fingers hidden.  I had to hold onto those big turnips with something :D

Thanks for your concern.  I feel so wanted.

[etat]

Tom, I am so happy for you and your fingers!!! :)But I have been told, and personally, I don't believe it for a minute, that you almost lost a few of them once grabbing for fried chicken.  Now I told em, I don't really know Tom that well, but I jest can't believe he was reaching for that last piece of chicken after the light went off, nope, Tom's just too nice a guy for that!!!!

[Tom]

Too quick too. :D :D

[DanG]

Mr Webster describes a rutabaga as "A turnip with a large yellow root."
It has always been one of my favorite veggies. For most of my life, I only knew them as those big, waxy things from the grocery store. Several years ago, my Dad planted some, and we all fell in love with the greens from them, and found the fresh roots to be milder and more tender than the store kind. Surprise, Surprise, huh? ???  I've been growing some each year since then.
This year, my winter garden consists of collards, rutabagas, purple-top turnips, shogoin turnips, broccoli, and romain lettuce. Have enjoyed all except the broccoli, so far, but I now have some nice heads on that. Probably eat some of it this weekend. 8)

[SwampDonkey]

Tom , DanG and others:

What do you use as a source of boron on your turnip and rutabaga? They and beets apparently like a little bit of it for good growth, but my main use for it is root maggots. I'm going to use BORAX as a source of boron. It's basically a natural salt taken from lakes in desert areas and used in the laundry and metal polishing. It's got sodium, boron, oxygen and water bound up in a molecule. Anyway, I've never used BORAX before it was always boric acid I think. But Borax has about 12 % boron in it, so if it don't kill the maggots it can add a micronutrient at least. ;D

It's kind of drizzling out now, so I'm going out with some lime and my Borax. Usually you add the Borax in the seed trench, but I was not on top of the ball this spring. ;)

[fishpharmer]

SD no matter how they grow they oughta be clean :D

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah! You gotta wash that..... hum hum right out of....hmmmm :D

[CLL]

Like turnip greens, just not a big fan of turnips. I plant a lot of turnips but its to flavor our deer meat. 8)

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I like to see an old post bumped up to the top 

[Modat22]

I planted 1/2 an acre in turnips this year  8)

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D :D That would supply me for 50 years. ;)

[Tom]

Y'all must measure acres different than we do, Swamp Donkey.  :D

[DanG]

Tom , DanG and others:

What do you use as a source of boron on your turnip and rutabaga?

I've never used anything special on them.  I've used balanced granular fertilizers, and various composted manures.  For the last few years, I've had access to plenty of mushroom compost, so that's what I've been using.

The Solubor product that some folks have been squirting on their wood is actually sold as a source of boron for agriculutural use.

Tom, that depends on how well he likes them.  You could grow a 50 year supply of rhubarb for me in a flower pot! :D

[MrMoo]

I like turnips too. Here in NH we plant the purple top ones early in the spring and get them in June.

[Modat22]

I always plant a big field of turnips, generally start with greens till fall then begin on the roots themselves. Fried, boiled, raw, mashed, chipped and salted.

I have beets this year as well, trying to see if I can fix them in every way I currently fix turnips.

[Tom]

Tom, that depends on how well he likes them.  You could grow a 50 year supply of rhubarb for me in a flower pot! 

I knew a fellow that had a big'ol  flower pot like that one time.   ;D

[Don_Papenburg]

My 50 year flower pot 'O' rhubarb would have to cover a couple of acres. I haven't had any turnup in the garden for a bunch of years . I will try to put some in for the fall.

[easymoney]

apparently eating turnips is an aquired taste. a cousin of mine raised a big crop a couple of years ago. since they were free to me i ate a lot of them. the more i ate the better they tasted. hope he raises more this year. ;D

[Modat22]

I used to hate em, then they kinda grew on me. Polk greens where the same way. Used to hate em now I love those too.