what to do with turnip greens?

[Todd]

Hi All,

Got me a forest of Golden Globe Turnips growing in the garden:

Tried eating one of the leaves a week ago. Hmmmm. Okay. Interesting tastes. I can see where all the remarks about feeding turnips greens to livestock come from. One of those run your tongue under a hose for five minutes and then try to ignore the after taste experiences. Oh my!

If I can not figure out a way to make the greens palatable (I have a post on a cooking group on that subject), what to do with them? Hold them till the end of the season and dig them under? Trash can?

Many thanks,

-T

[Steve Peek]

Chop a tart apple and a sweet onion fairly fine. Saute them in a large pot with 2-3 tablespoons of good olive oil. When they are tender toss in the wa shed, chopped greens and 1/2 cup of water or stock, cover with a tight fitt ing lid. Steam until tender and salt to taste.

The apple and onion take a lot of the "bite" out of turnip greens. You can also add a small amount of sugar and/or cider vinegar.

[John McGaw]

My friend's iguana absolutely loved that sort of green. She (the iguana, not my friend) was getting up toward 6 feet the last time I saw her so they must be pretty nutritious regardless of the taste.

Lacking an bunch of animals to eat them, composting always works.

[Todd]

Hi Steve,

I really hate to say this because you were so nice to give me a recipe, but I am a NIDDM (noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, also know as non-insulin dependent type 2 diabetic). Do to the carb count on sweet onions and apples, they are off my diet. (But moderate amounts of regular onions are not.) This is the reason for growing golden globe turnips, instead of potatoes.

Maybe cider vinegar and regular onions? I don't know, the volatile oils in the greens are really strong. The greens are really nasty tasting.

The world needs more nice people,

Thank you!

-T

[Todd]

Thank you!

So, feed them to livestock.

I lack composting facilities. As a substitute, how far under would you bury them at the end of the year?

-T

[John McGaw]

Couldn't venture a guess as to how deeply you might bury them. If they are well chopped, by a rototiller perhaps, I'd not worry too much and just let them mix in where they will in the top 8" or so. That is as much effort as I've gone to over the years and where the soil and weather conditions were amenable the chopped green matter pretty much disappeared in a couple of months. I'd imagine that an abundance earthworms would speed the process assuming, of course, that their taste buds aren't so discerning as yours.

[Brooklyn1]

SOUP... beans.. ham hocks.. lotsa veggies, spices, herbs, seasonings.

[songbird]

Todd wrote: ...

a few inches is plenty, if your area doesn't get deep freezes they'll be gone by spring.

better yet, chop the tops off and leave them on the surface to dry in the sun before burying them. the worms will make quick work of them after that.

songbird