Swede – Brassica napus var. napobrassica
Turnip – Brassica napa
Radish – Raphanus sativus
The English word swede comes from the vegetable’s origins in Sweden, around 500 years ago, probably in a field where brassica seed was being grown – swedes are a cross between cabbage and turnip.
It has a range of names, including ‘Swedish turnip’ and ‘neep’ in Scotland, and is called ‘turnip’ in parts of England. The Swedish word ‘rotobagge’ (meaning thick root) has been converted to ‘rutabaga’ in North America, where it may also be called the ‘Swedish turnip’ or ‘yellow turnip’.
This lesson also covers white turnip, partly for the context it gives to swede. White turnips contain more water than swede and are therefore less nutritious, although early-season turnips in springtime can be sweet and special.
Autumn turnips, in particular, have a pungent flavour. When we lived in France and shared a meal with neighbours, the old farmers would not eat turnip at all. It reminded them of starvation rations in wartime.
I have also found space for radish in this lesson. It was never going to make a whole lesson but fits nicely at the end here, in a separate section. It’s another close relation to turnip.
Harvest period
- Days from seed to first harvest: 40 for summer-sown turnip, 120 for summer-sown swede
- Best climate is temperate and damp, not too hot and dry in summer, with a damp and mild autumn.
Why grow them
Swedes are the bass notes of winter. They won’t set your meals alight but they are always there when needed, often in quantity. Around here they are often on restaurant menus and more delicious than I can ever make them – it’s to do with the addition of butter!
For turnips, the ones I recommend are first sowings, for those early and sweet roots during the hungry gap. It’s good when they crop before pests arrive, especially cabbage root fly. Plus you can eat their leaves during the hungry gap and in late winter too, if roots have survived in the ground – they then grow new leaves before flowering.
Pattern of growth
Both of these are biennial, so they overwinter as a root then flower in the spring. Turnips can also flower in the summer after being sown very early because, if they experience enough cold while germinating and growing as seedlings, this triggers a ‘winter experience’ followed by ‘second season’ flowering.
The main period of harvest is winter. These are roots to store while in the dormant phase, which ends in early spring.
Suitable for containers/shade?
You can grow these vegetables in shade since they are brassicas, which like conditions to be moist and not too hot.
I am not convinced that they are worth growing in containers, with the one exception of early turnips, because they are rapid and do not grow large, therefore need less space. You could grow them before, say, transplanting tomatoes in the same container.
For Swede and Turnip
Harvests of early turnips finish in time for new plantings of any summer vegetable, from leeks and salad onions to carrots and beetroot.
After autumn harvests, you have the possibility of growing any vegetables the following spring, except for brassicas. In terms of rotation, I find best results from leaving at least a few months between plantings of the same family.
For Parsnhips
This depends on the date of final harvest, and you can transplant any vegetable which is in its right season – see my sowing timeline. I do not worry about rotation before or after radish, because they are in the ground for such a short time.
Even winter radish, which may be in the soil for three to four months at the end of a season, can be followed by brassicas in the spring if that is what you want to grow there.
