SAFLAX - Organic - Turnip - Super Melt - 20 seeds - Brassica oleracea var. gongyl. L.
Large, not woody and delicately tender
Useful information: Super Melt is a delicately tender, slow-growing, white to light-green coloured Mega-turnip that can become as heavy as a few kilograms and doesn’t get woody. Cabbage turnip is often served with a creamy sauce, herbs like parsley or chervil and potatoes. It is also well suited and delicious in casseroles or a low-carb lasagne. Cabbage turnip is especially aromatic when used as a raw vegetable. A turnip salad with radishes or carrots and raw vegetables with a yogurt-dip make a real vitamin boost. For preparing turnip as a main dish, you can coat it with breadcrumbs and fry like a turnip-cutlet. Its fine heart leaves can be used for refining soups and salads, or prepared somewhat like spinach with a dash of lemon juice. Large cabbage turnip leaves can also be used for preparing roulades.
Natural location: The origin of cabbage turnip is believed to be the Mediterranean region. Today, Germany is one the main cultivation areas in Europe.
Successful cultivation: You can start cultivation from January until March in a wind-sheltered cold frame with a fleece cover for frosty nights, or in pot on your windowsill. Plant three seeds per planting hole about 1 cm deep into coconut substrate or organic vegetable substrate. After germination, you can prick the seedlings out leaving only the strongest one. It will take about four to six weeks after seeding until the seedlings have properly developed. A temperature between 15° and 20° Celsius would be ideal for germination. Starting from the end of May, when there are no frosty nights ahead anymore, and as soon as the seedlings have developed a proper rooting, they can be planted out in the open. Provide some underlining/padding with compost and place the seedlings deep enough into the soil so that the roots are covered with about 1 cm of earth. Leave about 40 to 50 cm space between the plants.
The best location: The plant has high nutrient demand and grows best at a sunny place of the vegetable patch and in well-grounded, nutritious soil with a good water storage capacity.
Optimal care: The plant requires watering and nutrition regularly. Water generously, especially on hot days, but avoid water-logging. Weeding and loosening the surrounding soil from time to time will be rewarded by the plant producing a better harvest and flavour. After planting out, you may regularly provide your Broccoli with organic vegetable fertilizer until about two to three weeks before harvesting.
In the winter: The plant should be re-seeded every year.