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| − | How To Grow Swede/Rutabaga
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| − | Growing Swedes
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| − | Swede is one of the hardiest vegetable, and one of their great attractions is their ability to do well without much attention. It can be left in the ground throughout the winter and will still be tasty even if it has been frozen in the ground for weeks.
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| − | Swede is a cousin of the true turnip which originally came from Sweden, and its name is an abbreviation of Swedish turnip. The crop is grown for its large yellow fleshed roots, which are hardier, sweeter and milder than turnips, and rarely get woody. One of he main differences between swedes and turnips is that swedes are used in winter, whilst turnips are harvested in summer and autumn.
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| − | SWEDE QUICK GUIDE
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| − | Latin Name
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| − | Brassica napus napobrassica
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| − | Type
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| − | Hardy Biennial
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| − | Sowing to Harvest Time
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| − | 20-24 weeks
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| − | How Many?
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| − | 0.5-1kg (1-21/4 lb) per root
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| − | Size
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| − | 7.5-17.5 cm (3-7 in) in diameter, 12.5-17.5 cm (5-7 in) long
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| − | The growing season of the swede is much longer that that of the turnip. Growing a combination of the two vegetables will give you a long season of use. Although the crop is grown mainly for it's edible roots, you can leave the crop in the ground and it will produce pale green leaves in the spring which can be cooked and used as greens. Swedes are divided into three groups according to the colour of the upper part of the root. The purple tops, the bronze tops and the green tops. The green variety are slower to mature that the purple sort, which are much freer growing and the heaviest croppers. The bronze variety are intermediate in habit between the two other types.
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| − | Where To Grow Your Swedes in the UK
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| − | Swedes grow best on fertile medium soil, although with proper soil preparation the will grow well on a wide variety of soils, from light sandy loams to medium clay. Swedes like other members of the brassica family are subject to club root disease. Club root thrives in acid soil so make sure that your soil is between pH 7.0 and 7.3. Provided the soil was well matured for the previous crop, there should be sufficient organic matter for the swede crop. If the soil was not previously manured, dig in well rotted manure or compost at the rate of one barrow load to 11 sq m (12 sq yd).
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| − | Do not apply fresh manure or compost to the ground before sowing swede, this will only result in watery, mis-shapen roots. When preparing the ground, make sure you get rid of all weeds, particularly the perennial ones, such as couch grass and thistles. If you live in an area of high rainfall it is best to grow swedes on a ridge. It is hard to define high rainfall but if you get more that 60 cm (24 in) of rain per year you would do better to grow the crop on ridges.
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| − | Make the ridges 15 -20 cm (6-8 in) high, and between 60-67 cm (24-27 in) from centre to centre. Ridges are better drained in winter when the ground tends to become water-logged. Fine soil will gradually fall down to the bottom of the trench between the ridges and the roots will grow through into this. In lower rainfall areas grow swedes on the flat as ridges would tend to dry out in the summer. For the same reason do not make ridges if your soil is very sandy or free draining. Firm the ground before sowing whether on ridges or on the flat. Do not attempt to firm the ground if it is too wet or the soil will become compacted and lose its friable quality
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