Turnip - Norfolk Purple Top
Brassica rapa subs rapa
Story: We first came into contact with this turnip from the wonderful grass roots seed company Real Seeds (if you have not come across them, we would highly recommend checking out their amazing selection of rare, heritage, open pollinated seeds). Norfolk Purple Top turnips have a rich history and can be traced back to growing in Norfolk since at least 1860. The Real Seeds website tells us it was: 'originally popularised by Charles the 2nd Viscount Townshend. His life was completely focused on progress through turnips, often talking of nothing else, and becoming known as “Turnip Townshend” due to his obsession with the vegetable, which he used as the mainstay of his new "4-field Norfolk Rotation" on his estate. Despite the scepticism of his peers, his rotation was based on very sound principles and these turnips turned out to be a crucial part of the agricultural revolution in the early 1700’s'.
We love it! It grows well as an overwintering crop (sown in August or September) when very little else is in the ground, making for a pleasant harvest in the middle of winter and into the hungry gap in early spring.
When to sow: Direct sow March - April for midsummer harvest or in Aug - Sep for winter/early spring harvest.
Requirements: Well dug soil with added compost and a sunny spot.
Harvesting for eating: All year, depending on time of sowing outlined above. Harvest when about the size of a tennis ball.
Harvesting for Seed Saving: Turnips are a biennial crop and flower in their second year. Seeds usually ripen in late summer but it does depend on when they were sown so keep a close eye out for ripe (dry, brown) seed heads forming - that is an indicator of when they are ready.
How to save seed: Turnips are in the species Brassica rapa and will cross with other B . rapa (such as mustard greens, bok choi and field rapeseed) make sure to isolate them from other B. rapa plants by not allowing any others to flower within 800m - this may not be possible if you live in the countryside next to a rapeseed field. In the first year of growing, select the best looking, biggest and healthiest roots (min 10 - they require a big gene pool to make healthy seeds) and do not pick them for eating - leave them in the ground (pull and compost anything that bolts and eat any others - we know it's hard to leave the best ones!) - this is called selection/rouging - selecting the healthiest genetic to save seed from. Allow these turnips to stay in the ground and overwinter, flower the next year and set seed, allow seed pods to dry fully on the plant. Ripe seed will be very dark brown/black. Cut entire stems of seed from the plant and bring inside to dry fully then crush seed from their pods and winnow - see our video on winnowing seed. You will have TONNES of seed from 10 plants so share with friends, family and seed networks and try them as a microgreen.
Number of plants to save seeds from: 10 minimum, 20 or more is ideal
Pollination: Insect pollinated
How to send back seed: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your name and contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1/2 cup of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.
Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.*
*Community groups, seed guardians and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us at info@seedsaving.network if this is the case.
If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.
