Kohlrabi
- Why you should grow it
- High in Vitamin C and potassium
- Crunchy like a pear, you can eat it raw or cooked
- Of the cabbage family – commonly called German turnip

- Great addition to salads
- Use as a substitute in recipes for broccoli or cabbage
- How to start seeds
- Plant in well-drained soil in full sun
- Plant out in the spring and late summer, try not to plant in the heat of summer, they need cooler temperatures to grow to full size
- Plant under taller plants to ensure that the soil is cooled
- Sow seeds 5mm deep
- Needs 45-60 days until mature
- 1 inch apart and about 4 cm down
- Start indoors during the heat of summer and plant out when the weather cools
- Tips for growth
- Plant April to mid-May, mid-July to early august
- Fertilize soil before planting out
- Companion plants include beets, celery, herbs, onions, potatoes. Do not plant with pole beans, strawberries or tomatoes.
- Not good for containers as they root deeply
Keep consistently moist, they can become woody if not watered regularly
- Mulch when the kohlrabi a bit grown to prevent evaporation and insulation against the heat or cold
- Harvesting
- Kohlrabi is ready for harvest when stems reach 2 to 3 inches in diameter
- Don’t let it get too big, like zucchini, when left too long they will start to get woody
- Cut from the base
- Treat the leaves like cabbage
- You can harvest the leaves through the season, just don’t take all of them, the plant needs to be able to keep growing

- Saving Seeds
- Kohlrabi are biennial, meaning they go to seed the year after you plant it
- They are also of the cabbage family, meaning they can easily cross with cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli etc
- Ensure that you isolate it from other varieties when it goes to seed
- The seed pods will turn brown when they are ready
- Pull off and let fully dry in the sun
- Label and store in a cool, dark place