Not for the first time here we find a vegetable which is popular in some parts of Europe but has found little favour in Britain. This is perhaps surprising as kohl rabi is a root-forming brassica which does much better in hot and dry weather than the much more popular turnip. The edible swollen part of kohl rabi is not really a root at all – it is the stem base (‘globe’) and so is able to succeed in shallow soils where turnips and Swedes would fail. It is low growing, reaching about 1ft (30cm) in hight. It also matures quickly, progressing from sowing to harvesting in a couple of months. Textbooks try to describe the taste of the globe but the phrases are not much use – ‘a cross between turnip and cabbage’ for the boiled vegetable, ‘nutty with a slight celery taste’ for the grated raw globe. This vegetable can be both tasty and tender, but only if you grow it quickly and lift when the globes are undersized.

Seed facts
Expected germination time: 10 days
Approximate number per ounce: 8000
Expected yield from a 10ft row: 20 globes
Life expectancy of stored seed: 4 years.
Approximate time between sowing and picking: 8-12 weeks
Ease of cultivation: Easy

Soil facts
· The ideal situation is a sunny spot on light land. Dig in autumn – work in compost if the soil is poor. Lime, if necessary, in winter.
· In spring apply Growmore fertilizer and sprinkle Bromophos if cabbage root fly is known to be a problem. Prepare the seed bed about a week later, treading down and raking the surface.

Seed sowing
Sow very thinly ½ in (1cm) deep in rows 12in (30cm) apart. Cover with soil. Sow white and green varieties between March and June. For a late autumn or winter crop sow a purple variety in July or August.

Calendar
Sowing time: Usually early April to the end of July; can extend from late March to the end of August.
Lifting time: Mid July to November; can include late June and early July as well as December.

Looking after the crop
· Thin the seedlings as soon as the first true leaves appear. Continue thinning at intervals until the plants are 6in (15cm) apart. Provide protection against birds.
· Hoe regularly and feed occasionally if growth is slow. Soak the ground during periods of drought.

Harvesting
· Pull the swollen stem bases (‘globes’) when they are midway in size between a golf ball and a tennis ball. Do not lift and store – they deteriorate once out of the ground. Leave the plants growing in the garden and pull as required until December.

Varieties
Green Vienna: Green-skinned, white-fleshed – an early maturing variety which is chosen for spring and summer sowing.
White Vienna: The outer skin is paler than Green Vienna, but some books do not accept that there is any difference between the varieties.
Purple Vienna: The globes are purple-skinned but the flesh remains white. Choose this variety for late sowing and winter harvest.
Rowel: A new F1 hybrid which claims to be definitely superior to the old Viennas. The flesh is sweeter and it does not become woody if allowed to grow larger than a tennis ball.

Troubles
Many of the brassica problems are occasionally seen, but they are not likely to be serious. The crop matures quickly and so it is not affected by diseases which develop slowly or pests which are at their peak when kohl rabi is absent from the garden. Birds and aphids can be troublesome. Also see Brassicas.