Mon 5 Jan 2009
Plant seeds of this cabbage relative in the spring garden for early summer harvest or the late summer garden for fall harvest. A packet of kohlrabi seeds will give you buckets of delicious “above ground turnips” for very little work. Spring seeded kohlrabi sprouts and grows rapidly. When the plants are 6 to 8 inches high, the stems will begin to swell just above the root line until the “bulbs” are 3 to 4 inches across. Peeled and steamed, kohlrabi has a mild flavor somewhat like turnips but far more delicate, with a crispness like that of water chestnuts.
Green and purple varieties are available; both have creamy white interiors. Kohlrabi matures in about two months. Eat kohlrabi when bulbs are 2 to 3 inches in diameter; they can get stringy when overly mature.
Planting
Broadcast seeds or plant them in wide bands. Thin to 12 inches apart. The young greens from thinnings can be combined with other kinds of greens and cooked. Kohlrabi can be stored much like turnips; see page 95.
In containers
Plants are unusual looking, grow rapidly, and will succeed in planters 8 to 10 inches deep.
