Brassicas
Kohlrabi
Fast, mild, unusual.
- Outside
- Direct Apr to May, again early Aug
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Every 5 to 7 days; a checked bulb turns woody
- Harvest
- Jun, then Sep to Oct, at tennis-ball size
Care
- Water
- Every 5 to 7 days in spring and fall, every 3 to 4 in a hot stretch. A long soak at the base until the top few inches are wet, then let it dry before the next. Keep it even; heat or a dry stall turns the bulb woody and cracks it.
- Sow
- Direct sow a quarter to half inch deep once the soil can be worked in April, again in May, then early August for fall. Rows a foot to eighteen inches apart, thin to four inches.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting starts the bed. A quick, hungry crop, so side-dress with Garden-tone, up to a third cup a plant, once the seedlings stand four inches tall; steady feed keeps the bulb tender.
- Ready
- Pull at tennis-ball size, two to three inches across, before it oversizes and turns fibrous. The August sowing holds sweeter through October cold.
- Trouble
- Woody, cracked bulb: heat or a water stall, keep it evenly watered and pick on time. Flea beetles stippling the seedlings and cabbageworms on the leaves: net the young planting to cover both at once.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 3–5 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August; bags dry far faster than a bed. 20 to 30 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams.
- Feed
- Top-dress monthly; every watering leaches the bag.
- Sow
- Three or four plants per bag.
A sputnik of a vegetable, kohlrabi is a fast brassica grown for its crisp swollen stem, sown in spring and again for fall. Seven weeks from seed to plate, it fills gaps nothing else fills that quickly.
Growing
Direct sow in April or May and again in early August, thinning to four inches; three or four also fit a 3 to 5 gal bag. Steady water is the one secret, since checked plants go woody. Harvest at tennis-ball size without sentiment: golf ball is tender, softball is regret. The August sowing sizes up sweeter and holds through October cold without splitting.
Varieties
Kolibri is the crisp purple standard and Winner its green equivalent; Kossak grows to storage size without going woody, if curiosity strikes.
Pests
Flea beetles stipple the seedlings and cabbageworms sample the leaves, though the swollen stem itself goes untouched; a stretch of netting over the young planting covers both at once.
In the kitchen
Peel thick and eat raw: matchsticks, slaw, or slices straight off the knife with salt. It is the vegetable most often finished before it reaches a recipe.