Today I planted three vegetables that are often overlooked. New and experienced gardeners alike coddle their tomatoes and sweet peppers, but few even think to plant rutabagas, kohlrabi and turnips. But man, do we love these veggies at our house! They really taste good, promise!
Rutabagas are truly ugly.
AND are commonly grown as feed for livestock. Yeah, its reputation isn’t glorious. The first time I got my hands on some, though, I whipped up a batch of buttery, mashy bagas and was instantly hooked!
Turnips and kohlrabi are equally delicious raw or fried. We snack on both as matchstick veggies, thinly slice them up on salads, grate them for fun texture and have even wrapped them up in sushi rolls. Fried turnips are also a quick and excellent side to your morning eggs.
Plus, all three veggies have massive amounts of edible greens, which we easily freeze to liven up our winter stews!
Kohlrabi is a popular vegetable in other parts of the world. Serve this recipe to your family and you’ll be planting it in your own garden: http://bongong.com/recipe/dum-monj
Let’s get planting!
All three of these underappreciated veggies have tiny seeds.
While they should be grown 4-6 inches apart, I don’t have enough restraint… Every time I feel like that tiny amount of seed just isn’t enough! (yes I know they really fill in, yes I know thinning is tedious work…)
Prep your bed. I like to loosen the soil, pull out the vigorous grass roots that are growing before the snow is even gone, mix in some compost and rake the bed out nice and flat.
Some people grow all their veggies in a nice straight row. I’m more of a patch kind of gal. I think I fit more in when I plant in patches. I find it easier to work with when thinning and weeding, plus I like how full the garden bed looks this way. So determine how much of your garden you want to devote to these lovely veggies and sprinkle. Yes, I just sprinkle the itty bitty seeds here and there … and sprinkle a little extra for good measure. Finally, I lightly jiggle the soil with a rake (seeds this small don’t need to be covered much) and seal the deal with a gentle watering, or as luck would have it – snatch the baby and run inside just as the rain starts to pour!
Then they pop up like this and I have some thinning to do 🙂 But don’t forget, those little greens are edible!
Thanks, I love kohlrabi and may need to start some,! Can you talk about thinning when it’s time? And do you use fences or anything for squirrels or rabbits?
Hi Jenna! Great, kohlrabi is easy to grow, you’ll love it! The biggest thing about thinning is to just pull out plants where it is too crowded so the remaining one can grow to full size. I like to grow as much as possible, so I just make literally enough room for the bulb to grow. My turnips, for example, are side-by-side-by-side. Hopefully that helps. As far as fencing, we do have a chicken wire fence around the main garden, but its mostly for the dogs. The squirrels are my greatest enemy and I haven’t come up with a solution yet. I don’t have rabbit problems and my neighbor suggested it is because we have so many cats roaming the area. Good luck with your garden!