2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
In the old days, the turnip crop failure was akin to a real disaster. Turnips were in almost any home on the dinner table. Soups and cereals, drinks and pickles, minced meat for pies and baked poultry - what kind of food was not prepared from this fabulous round-faced beauty. And it is not surprising that in the folk tale of the same name, planting a turnip, the grandfather says: “Grow a big and sweet turnip” - after all, the whole family had to feed it! So why has it lost its popularity today? Moreover, now is the time to start sowing for winter consumption of root crops
Favorable conditions for the cultivation of turnips
Turnip is famous for its unpretentiousness to agricultural technology and growing conditions. However, she also has her own preferences. Therefore, if you want your turnip to grow big and sweet, like in a fairy tale, you need to take into account the following points:
• the most favorable soils for growing turnips will be light loams and sandy loam soils;
• turnip belongs to the cabbage family, and, following the rule of crop rotation, it is not recommended to sow it after its relatives, but after any other plants it is possible;
• the vegetable does not like the soil filled with manure in the year of sowing, therefore, it is better to introduce organic matter under the predecessors of turnips;
• on poor and depleted lands, it is advisable to add 20 g of nitrogen and potash fertilizers for digging, as well as 30 g of superphosphate per 1 sq. M. area;
• Sufficiently sunlit areas are suitable for turnips.
Sowing turnips in spring and summer
Turnip is a very cold-resistant crop. Seeds germinate even when the temperature drops to zero, and the seedlings are not afraid of light frosts -2; down to -3 ° C. Therefore, for a summer table, it is not scary to sow turnips in early spring. For winter storage, crops are sown from the last decade of June to the second decade of July. The optimum temperature for the development of root crops and plant growth is within the range of + 12 … + 18 ° C.
Before sowing, the beds must be thoroughly loosened. Despite the rather large size of the root crop, the seed is very small and the seeding rate for turnip seeds is about 0.3 g per 1 square meter. The seeds are placed in the furrows to a depth of at least 1 cm. The row spacing is made on the beds about 40 cm.
Turnips can be cultivated both in separate plots and as a compactor for other crops. The neighborhood with beets and carrots will be successful.
Turnip care and storage conditions
There is nothing difficult in caring for a turnip. The beds must be loosened and weeds must not be allowed to appear. Too densely sprouted plants should be thinned out so that a distance of about 7-10 cm is formed between them. As a rule, roots that reach at least 7 cm in diameter are already selectively removed from the beds. Ripe plants are able to withstand frosts down to -10 ° C. However, it is better not to bring it to such an extreme and to harvest the crop before the onset of a stable temperature of 0 … -3 ° С. Dig up the roots carefully so that the skin remains intact.
For fresh storage, the root crop and small thin roots are shaken off the ground, and the tops are cut off, leaving only 3-centimeter petioles. If possible, store in the sand. The optimum storage temperature is 0 … + 1 ° C, the humidity in the room is preferably 95%.
The scope for imagination in cooking fresh turnip dishes is huge. It can be the base for a savory vegetable stew or a sweet apple stew. It is used for minced meat for lean dumplings or stuffed with mushrooms itself. Turnip juice is added to vegetable and fruit juices. And many people prefer to consume it raw. At the same time, connoisseurs of pickled and pickled vegetables will get great pleasure from turnips - turnips are the best suited for such preparations.
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