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I used to get rutabagas and turnips mixed up when I was a kid and since I did not like either one as a young child I really did not care a flying fig when my mother would say, “Finish up those vegetables, thousands of children in China are starving for good food like that.” I often wanted to reply, “Lets send them to this stuff.”
I think most children felt the same way about strong vegetables and as we got older we perhaps acquired a taste for them, especially when one tries them raw at first.
Regardless, over the years I finally learned the difference between a Rutabaga and a turnip and I was surprised to discover that the Rutabaga is a cross between a turnip and a cabbage.
Unlike turnips, Rutabagas do not fare well in the south or in the summer. The gardeners in the north who want a fall crop will do well to consider sowing some Rutabaga seeds. They take a bit longer to mature than turnips and will not develop their sweetness and flavor if they have to deal with real hot weather.
Do not sow your seed in areas where you have previously grown rutabagas, radishes or turnips or you will probably be dealing with Root maggots.
Plant your seeds about ½ inch deep and make your rows about 18 to 23 inches apart. Water well to get your seedling started and then thin your 2 inch tall rutabaga seedling to 6 inches apart. You can use these seedlings as greens in soup and salads. If you live in a mild gardening zone you can probably leave your large rutabagas in your garden well into the winter and pick fresh as you want them for your personal cooking use.
Rutabaga is a yellow fleshed vegetable and takes about 90 to 100 days to reach maturity depending on the type you plant.
The American Purple Top will mature in 90 days giving you large purple topped global shape roots with light yellow flesh.
For those who want a mild sweet flavor, plant Altasweet which matures in 92 days with light yellow bottoms and purple shoulders.
Two others that mature in 90 days are the Improved Long Island that will give you a large spherical vegetable that has purplish red tops and light yellow bottoms and then there is the Laurentian that will have dark purple tops, pale yellow bottoms and uniform roots.
Pike will take the longest to mature and that being 100 days. These purple topped rutabagas are similar to the Laurentian and may be left in the field longer in the fall if your have a mild weather zone.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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