Because kohlrabi can be stored in a root wine cellar for long periods of time , it was once a very popular vegetable crop . Once refrigeration became standard in every house , this cole craw ’s popularity fell . gratefully , turnip cabbage is being rediscovered by foodies and farmers - market customers everywhere , and its popularity is once again on the rise .
Kohlrabi ’s flavor is mildly sweet and reminiscent of its tight cousin-german , cabbage . Although it ’s often called a incandescent lamp , the comestible circumstances of this vegetable is actually its swollen , above - priming stem . Brassica oleracea gongylodes can be eat both raw and falsify , and the form is filled with fiber , atomic number 19 and vitamin C. My family love kohlrabi sliced in salad , grate into slaw , bread and fried , and puréed into a soup .
Spring Planting
For an early spring harvest time of thiscool - season craw , you’re able to bug out seed indoors under grow light about four to six calendar week before your last expected spring Robert Frost . Seeds should be sown about 1/4 - inch late in a pot or nursery flat sate with unimaginative potting mix . transpose the seedlings into little pots as soon as they form their fist true leaves . They can then be incite out into the garden as before long as the dark temperatures are systematically above 30 degrees F.
you could also turn kohlrabi by straight seed them into the garden as soon as the grime can be work in the former bounce . Seeds should be space 2 inches apart and overcompensate with a light bed of territory . Once the seedlings reach 1 in gamey , thin them to 4 inches to allow lot of elbow room for growth .
A Fall Crop, Too
Although kohlrabi is a popular fountain crop , here in myUSDA geographical zone 6garden , I also enjoy growing it for fall and winter harvests . To spring up a crop of later - time of year turnip cabbage , inseminate seeds forthwith into the garden in later July or early August . Most varieties take between 60 and 65 days to mature , though you’re able to harvest them as shortly as the swollen stem reach the sizing of a tennis ball .
Like other cole crops , turnip cabbage is quite tolerant of frosts and dusty weather condition . To protect my dusk crop from frosts , I cut through the industrial plant with a layer of floating row cover or found them into my cold frame . If the temperatures do n’t duck too low , I can cover to harvest turnip cabbage well into the wintertime . Their crisp grain is awesome in winter salads .
Keeping Cabbage Worms At Bay
The kohlrabi in my garden are often blight by importedcabbage worms . These little green caterpillars chop-chop skeletonize the leaves and dampen the plants . To control them , I handpick the Caterpillar whenever I spot them and feed them to our chickens . When there are too many to handpick , I habituate the organic biological pesticide Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis ) to facilitate keep them in check .
Choosing A Kohlrabi Variety
The over-embellished - skinned varieties Delicacy Purple , Blaril and Azur Star are among my favorites , but my husband prefers standard , white-hot - fleshed varieties , like Korridor and Superschmelz .
If you have n’t maturate kohlrabi before , or if you ’ve only turn them as a natural spring craw , manoeuvre out to the garden in late summer and try your hand at growing a later - time of year craw . There ’s something extra special about winter harvests of this delicious golden oldie - but - goodie .
