Tokyo Cross (aka Hakurei) Turnip
Brassica Rapa

days to maturity: 25-45 days
plant spacing: 9 per square foot
sunlight requirements: 8-14 hours
look out for: snails hiding at the soils surface, aphids
harvest notes: can be harvested at any size, up to 45 days. eat the greens too!
seasons: fall, winter, spring
annual

Tokyo Cross hybrid variety is an All American Selection award winner that we love to grow. It can be harvested at any stage, small to large size roots (up to 6" diameter) without getting pithy. These turnips have a perfect globe shape with smooth skin and sweet, mild, crisp flesh, and are sometimes called ping pong turnips because they clean up to a perfect crisp white and are perfectly cylindrical. They mature early, are late bolting, and have good flavor.

We love love love salad turnips because they are so easy to grow, can tolerate overcrowding, and are super delicious, juicy and versatile in the kitchen. We pickle them, roast them, mandolin them for fresh eating, and just eat them like stone fruits bite by bite. The greens are more delicate and less hairy than radish greens so make sure to take advantage of all that green growth and eat the greens too. For best storage in the fridge cut the greens off of the roots and store them separately in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer so they don’t dehydrate.

Direct seed turnips right into your garden and thin to 3-4" apart about 10 days after germination.