Kohl Rabi

[SMT]

Hi all!

I've decided to grow this for the first time. I think it’s an unusual veg and as yet I have never even eaten one before, but I want to try and grow them anyway. Three questions really -

1. Any tips for growing them that you may be able to pass on?

2. Any recommendations for its culinary uses?

3. Is it a veg that will basically look after itself or are there any nasty’s to look out for?

Many thanks

[trish60]

very easy to grow. I grew the red kohl rabi ,started off indoors & then planted out. It looks very pretty. Had no problem with pests. Sort of cross between a turnip & a radish & can use it in salads or stir fries. Had propagator type kits with seeds, compost & container last week in Lidls for about 80p.

[HeyWayne]

I've grown it a couple of times and it's pretty easy to grow in my humble onion.

I grew mine in modules to begin with to help give them a fighting chance against slugs etc.

Our culinary uses are fairly limited though. One of our Polish friends said that it's quite widely grown/available in Poland and they tend to eat it raw in salads a lot.

[binley100]

We grew some for the first time last year. Fairly easy to grow . I use it like turnip ,in roasted veg, soup, raw in mixed pickles.

[selfraising]

I found them easy to grow too. I shredded mine and used it as a cabbage substitute in coleslaw

[vegnut]

I grow them every year, i just sow them straight into the ground and get good germination every time.
Cooking them is easy too, i mostly chop them into roast potato sized chunks, par boil them then roast them with the spuds. Yummy.
The only real pest iv'e had to date is the white fly.
I think it's a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. And it tastes like a sweet cabbage.

[Nicos]

I grew them last year for the first time- easy to grow and yummy to eat.
I steamed mine followed by a quick saute in butter and a blob of cream.Yum

[Lovage]

As everyone else has said , they are easy to grow. I sow some direct around end of march and put a few seeds in odd spaces every few weeks to follow on. Put some in after early spuds last year and they did well with all the rain.
Look for the newer varieties as they are less likely to go woody and should stand a long time.
We use them in soups and casseroles, roast with other roots, raw in salads and thinly sliced in gratins with potato and/or celeriac

[SMT]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like its worth growing then.

One more thing.....do they keep well once picked or is it a case of leaving them in the ground till you need them?

Many thanks

[vegnut]

They will keep for a week in the fridge, but they are much sweeter if pulled and cooked fairly quickly.

[summer]

These are also useful for making a curry as they take on the flavour beautifully. And don't forget you can use the top greens as well.

[chris]

Just bought some yesterday - looks really nice (nice colours).