The Turnip Purple Top White Globe, ‘Brassica rapa’, is a vegetable you may not have tried. Turnips are sweet and mild and are grown by some for the very tasty greens. The very tasty, sweet and mild roots are eaten fresh or cooked like potatoes. The greens are even more nutritious and are considered one of best flavors in the greens category. Purple Top White Globes store particularly well. Plant in early spring, 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost or when ground temperatures reach 45 degrees. Successive plantings every 3 weeks until mid-summer can provide continuous greens. Purple top prefers well drained soil with lots of organic matter. Harvest when turnips are no larger than 2 inches in diameter. Greens can be harvested when young and tender.

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The Squash Summer Black Beauty Zucchini, ‘Cucurbita pepo’, has very tender, creamy white, flavorful flesh. The Black Beauty Zucchini plant is compact and bush like. This squash is a very versatile vegetable. They can be steamed, grilled, sauteed, eaten raw in salads, made into relish, and made into breads. If left on the vine, they can grow very large. Very large squash can become too pithy to eat. The Black Beauty squash has a dark green skin. Plant in the spring, 2 to 4 weeks after the last average frost date. Squash prefers well drained, rich soil with lots of organic matter. Harvest after the first or second light frost. Squash is ready to harvest when the stem and skin hardens. Winter squash cannot be overripe, but they can be under ripe.

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The Mustard Greens Southern Giant Curled, ‘Brassica juncea’, has a zippy, spicy flavored foliage. The Southern Green Curled Mustard has a very nutritious leafy green that should be in everyone’s garden. Southern Giant is known for its desirable flavor when cooked in stir fry and soups or when young leaves are used in fresh salads. Mustard can tolerate light frost and actually tastes slightly sweeter after a light frost. Mustard Greens is an annual cool season vegetable with 10 to 12 inch tall, large, long, oval, bright green leaves that are curled on the edges. Plant in the early spring, 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost or in late summer for fall harvest. Mustard Greens prefer rich, moist, and well drained soil with lots of organic matter. Mustard likes cool roots, so mulching will help keep the roots cool. If allowed to flower, the yellow flowers are also edible. The Southern Giant can also be grown in a container.

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