Rutabaga

Rutabaga is direct-sown into the garden, either 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost or, for a fall harvest, sown once summer heat has passed. The soil should be loosened to a good depth, enriched with compost, and kept loose enough for the taproot to swell freely; full sun and a well-drained loam or sandy soil suit it best. Seedlings are thinned to a few inches apart, and plants need about an inch of water weekly, since dry conditions make the root woody and bitter-tasting; mulch helps hold soil moisture as the crop develops over three to four months to maturity.

Clubroot is a soil-borne disease of concern; once it appears in a bed, rutabaga should be kept out of that ground for at least six years. Slugs, aphids, cutworms, looper caterpillars, and flea beetles feed on the foliage, and a row cover placed over young plants can keep both insects and egg-laying moths away from the leaves.

Several fungal and bacterial leaf diseases can also appear, including Alternaria leaf spot, anthracnose, black rot, and Cercospora leaf spot, each producing its own pattern of spots or lesions on the foliage. Sanitation practices such as planting disease-free seed, rotating away from cruciferous crops, and removing weedy relatives that can harbor the pathogens are the common thread in managing these problems.

The greens can be cut once they reach about four inches tall, and as long as the crown of the bulb is left undamaged, the plant will keep producing new leaves. Roots are ready to pull once they have filled out to a usable size, though those left to grow too large tend to become tough; a touch of frost is said to improve their flavor before harvest. Unwashed roots keep well afterward when stored in a root cellar or similarly cool, dark space.

Culinary: The bulb is cooked and eaten as a vegetable, and the leafy greens can likewise be used fresh in salads or cooked.

Fodder: Both the roots and the foliage are fed to livestock, either given directly in winter or grazed in the field during other seasons.

Rutabaga arose as a hybrid between cabbage and turnip, and is generally considered to have originated in Scandinavia, Finland, or Russia. The earliest known printed reference to the plant comes from the Swiss botanist Gaspard Bauhin in 1620, who recorded it growing wild in Sweden, and it is thought to have been bred more than once in northern Europe before spreading into wider cultivation.