Tervajärven Kanta turnip
Price range: $4.00 through $10.00
(Brassica rapa)
The largest turnip I have every seen, with distinctively marbled purple-on-yellow skin and a spicy, peppery flavour which any radish lover will instantly recognize and appreciate.
Where is the farthest north that turnips have been cultivated? I asked myself. Finland, as far as I can tell. I found this turnip in the Nordic Baltic Genebank’s collection. Of it they say: “Cultivar facts: Old Finnish landrace. Should be sown after soil has warmed up in a place where wood has been burned. Benefits from ash and cut-grass ground cover. Good to store, delicious to eat as non-cooked vegetable.” In Finland, the growing season is much shorter than mine, and turnips like this would be one of the few crops able to mature in the far north. There they had to plant it as soon as they could in the spring; here I plant in early August for fall harvest.
NordGen accession # NGB 20017
For summer harvest, plant several weeks before frost-free date. For fall harvest and winter storage, plant 45-50 days before first fall frost. Sow ¼-½” deep, 1” apart in rows 15” apart. If soil is dry, flood furrows before seeding. When plants are 4” tall, thin to 6” apart (eat thinnings). To prevent root maggot, sprinkle bed with ashes just as seedlings emerge. Harvest after a few light frosts but before a hard freeze, when roots are 3” in diameter.