How to grow and harvest Rutabagas?

 I have been gardening off and on my whole life and we always plant rutabagas. Mom and I cooked our rutabagas like we cook our Irish potatoes, and have some turnip or mustard greens and all you'll would need with this would be a pan of cornbread and some milk.

Rutabagas is good because they will come in the fall and winter when the rest of the vegetable garden is pretty bare.

Rutabagas will take five or six months to mature fully. I always dig in plenty of well-rotted organic matter such as compost or manure in the fall before I sow my rutabagas like I do other vegetables that are in the brassica crops.

When it get to be mid to late spring here, I will go out to my garden and get it ready to plant. I will get all of the weeds out of my garden space, and then I will rake it level. Then I will make a drill that is 3/4 inches deep, and water it well. Now I will sow my seeds along it and cover it with a little more soil to level the soil and then firm it down gently. Then I water them good. I make my multiple rows at least 12 inches apart.

If the weather is going  to  be cold enough for a frost, I will go out to the garden and cover my rutabagas with a single or double layer of horticultural fabric to help with insulation and speed up the growth. Plants need to be well watered while they are covered.

Rutabagas have the same problems with the same pests and diseases along with the members of the brassica family. During the warm weather, there is always the possibility  that flea beetles can come to the plants and they can do a lot of damage. I put a insect-proof mesh over my plants to prevent access to the plants.

As for routine care of my rutabagas. I always keep my plants well watered, definitely during the day spells. I also apply a 2 1/2 to 3 inches deep mulch of organic matter to help to lock the soil moisture.

In early part of fall my rutabagas roots will be large enough to harvest. I use my garden hoe to pry the roots out of the ground. Rutabagas can be stored in boxes of sand or I put mine in a shed until we need some rutabagas.