Swede is one of the most hardy vegetable you can grow and requires very little care. It
can be left in the ground through out the winter, even tasting good after it has been frozen.
Swede is a cousin of the true turnip which originally came from Sweden. 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 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.
The time for sowing swede varies according to local conditions. In Britain sowing should take place in late spring in the
north, early summer in the Midlands and mid summer in the south and south east. The temperature required for germination
is over 7 ° C and less that 37 ° C . By sowing late in the season in warmer areas, the plants will be less subject to the worst
summer heat, drought and mildews. A last summer sowing will produce greens for use in the following spring. If you grow
swede on ridges sow the seed as soon as possible after the ridges are prepared.
If the soil is dry water the drills right before sowing. The rows should be about 67 cm apart and the rows on the flat
should be 45 cm apart. Sow the seeds thinly at a depth of 2 cm on light soils or 1.25 cm on heavier ground.
Germination should happen between 7-12 days. Thinning of the seedlings takes place about three weeks
after sowing, when the seedlings are at the rough leaf stage. Don' try and transplant the thinnings as these
will not grow once they have been disturbed. The final spacing of the young plants should be 25-30 cm
apart.
As soon as the growning roots reach a reasonable size they can be harvested.
