[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

Evening all,

I harvested a swede Marian the size of a cricket ball and mashed it as I normally would any swede, and it was really bitter and not very nice.

Should I have waited longer?

[devon]

My father always says to eat swede after the frost not before. Something to do with the starch converting to sugar. Hope that helps.

[DD.]

It surely wouldn't be anywhere near mature. A bit like picking an apple early!

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

Ok, so it really does make a difference then!

[Beetroot queen]

I have heard about the frost too, sloe berries are the same, a sloe before its been frosted is rubbish but afterwards is a thing of beauty.

[Sparkyrog]

They say the same about sprouts and I have to agree

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

And parsnips I believe?

[mumofstig]

I can't find it now  but I'm sure I read that when it's dry they are more bitter, so keep them well watered, if you can 

[compostqueen]

I've got swedes that look big enough to harvest too. If I leave them til frost they will be like footballs 

[BabbyAnn]

I can't find it now  but I'm sure I read that when it's dry they are more bitter, so keep them well watered, if you can 

is this it?  http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=46612.0  (Google search is a lot quicker LOL)

[Beetroot queen]

I've got swedes that look big enough to harvest too. If I leave them til frost they will be like footballs 

We need pics. DD will be thrilled to see a decent swede 

[Tom Hill]

I have been eating Swede Virtue for about three weeks about the size 4-5 inches dia.  Lovely and sweet.
Cornwall grows a lot of Swede (We call them turnips) because it is an ingredient in pasties.  The frost debate doesn't always apply here because it is not unusual to have a frost free winter.

[vanessa.xx]

I have been eating Swede Virtue for about three weeks about the size 4-5 inches dia.  Lovely and sweet.
Cornwall grows a lot of Swede (We call them turnips) because it is an ingredient in pasties.  The frost debate doesn't always apply here because it is not unusual to have a frost free winter.

Hi Tom off topic a bit but I'm a neighbour I'm in Redruth and sorry I have to disagree with you that (we) call them turnips I've had many many an argument with some people who believe they are actually a turnip and not two separate veggies I was told a swede is a grown on turnip 

[seaside]

Hi Tom off topic a bit but I'm a neighbour I'm in Redruth and sorry I have to disagree with you that (we) call them turnips I've had many many an argument with some people who believe they are actually a turnip and not two separate veggies I was told a swede is a grown on turnip 

Wooah there Vanessa. Naughty, naughty  I originate from Penzance and I've never heard that explanation.

Tom s right. In West Penwith, "Swedish turnips" or swedes, in the English colloquialism, the big yellow one, have always been called turnips. While Redruth is indeed geographically close, the land usage has always been historically quite different. The Redruth/Camborne corridor, mining, to the West, fish and the growing of brassicas, parsley and flowers. Quite the little micro climate of it's day. The small white "turnip" and it's short growing season is more suited to the rest of the country and the  "market gardeners/small holders in the Tamar valley and East. Hence the small little cousin was hardly grown at all down in the far West. There was no profit in it.
"We" doesn't include Redruth in this historical agricultural context  It might as well be the moon. I'm sure the rest of these islands at the margins have  similar parrochial fault lines.

[mikem]

They say the same about sprouts and I have to agree

Sprouts before a frost don't taste very nice at all, however after a frost they taste just as bad!