Two or three warm days make it feel like spring is here. The grass is noticeably greening up. Even here in southeast Texas, where the temps normally come back up after a few cold days of cold, we’ve had a long winter of bundling-up. I know our mostly in-the-50s days and down-in-the-30s nights are not that bad compared to those in some other parts of the country. I spent a good many years lasting through cold Kansas winters, so I can appreciate not having to scrape windshields and scoop off driveways these days.
The below 30s and accompanying freezing rain and sleet we did have on a couple of occasions have interfered very little with the veggies that I planted at the end October out in the small garden behind the garage. The perky leaves of the mix of greens and the glistening tops of the carrots and turnips seem to be almost showing off here in the middle of February.
The carrots and the traditional purple top turnips probably won’t make for some time, but this next weekend I intend to cut a batch of the greens for a wilted salad. This evening, though, I couldn’t resist pulling up four of the Hakurei turnips. Right now, some are about the size of a big radish. They are sweet and crunchy with just a little bite, as I verified by munching them down once they were washed and the tops nipped off.
I get most of my seeds on line from Johnny’s Seeds. I don’t mind giving them a plug because I’ve gotten the seeds very quickly and the packs are a lot fuller than those you get at the big box stores.
I’m eating a lot of store-bought veggies these days, but it’s sure fun to have a bit of the home-grown taste of these turnips.
Filed under: Gardening and Flowers, It's What I Like | Tagged: gardening, Hakurei turnips, Houston weather, Johnny's Seeds, kitchen garden, spring, Texas | 1 Comment »