(AF) Biggest Turnips I Ever Saw!

As Dave said in our last post, when he was at my farm last week, I cooked a big Pot Roast, loaded down with hunks of assorted root crop veggies. Sorry there isn't a pic. It just looked so yummy when I pulled it out of the oven, that we ate it before I took one .... ooops!

I don't tend to cook big meals much anymore when it is just me here. I love to cook. But it just isn't as much fun for just one person. I tend to keep it simple for just me. Less dishes to do that way, too, ha, ha. But I am really enjoying cooking again when Dave is around.

When I cook an oven pot roast, I like to load it down with big hunks of veggies. Sometimes, you have a hard time finding the roast for the veggies! I always use potatoes, carrots and onions, then anything else I might have that sounds good, such as corn-on-the-cob cut into short lengths. But on this particular day I had turnips..... nice, big, tasty turnips.

The feed store I had used for many years closed down a few months ago. After well over 100 years in business, this horrible economy did them in. It was so sad. So I had to find a new place to get my feed. I tried several places over the past few months. One place would be too expensive, but have excellent service. Another place would have good prices, but have lousy service. Then I finally stumbled upon one that was hidden in a tiny little pocket of woods on the opposite side of our town. It had been there for many, many years, and I can't believe I had never found it before!

This place has great prices.... and terrific, friendly service! I sure wish I had found them a lot sooner. They are professional, yet they still have that down home, old-fashioned, country feel to them. And they are always doing little things to show their customers how much they appreciate them. You don't find that at many businesses any more! And one of those 'little things' is passing out home grown turnips to their customers.

Ever since late Fall, nearly every time I stop in to get feed, there is a milk crate or two full of home grown turnips setting just outside the door. And just inside the door you can find a sack to bag up a few turnips in. These delicious turnips are provided free for the customers, to show how much they are appreciated. I just love this feed store! (MFA Feed)

These turnips are, by far, the BIGGEST turnips I have ever seen! You would expect them to be all woody and pethy. But they actually cook up delicious and very tender! I was surprised. And these were the turnips I had loaded down in that Pot Roast I cooked for Dave. As big as they were (I did cut them into chunks), they roasted up beautifully, and melted in your mouth as you bit into them.

My goats were happy, too. They got all the trimmings and peelings off of the turnips. I didn't realize they loved turnips so much. I had to stand by close to keep them from fighting over them. We will have to grow a few extra turnips for our goats this year, for sure.

I asked what kind these big, beautiful turnips were. They said that they were simply the old-fashioned Purple Tops. They said that they just really grew big this season, which was even more amazing with the hard drought we had!  I think I will get my Purple Top seeds from a regular farm store or farm section of a seed catalog this year and see if they grow better than those little packets I have been getting at our discount stores. I would love to have a good crop of these put back next Fall for Winter's eating - ours and the goats'. These are wonderful turnips, not only roasted, but simply boiled with a little butter drizzled over them and sprinkled with natural salt. I can (and have) make a whole meal off of them.  Oh, and the pic that I have posted below ..... these were the medium-sized ones. They had a few that were a little smaller, and some that were even much larger than these!

If you have any tips on how to grow quality turnips this large, I would love to hear them.