Swedes

I wouldn't eat swedes until fairly recently. It's one of those childhood dislikes that carried on to adulthood. I've started eating them though and I've developed a real taste for them, to my great surprise my kids have followed suit.

They're quite easy to grow as long as you nurture them during the initial development of the seedlings and keep the water up to them during the whole growing period to prevent them from going woody.

Swedes are another member of the brassica family along with broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. As such it should never be grown in the same place for more than one season without giving the soil a break. These are the basics of crop rotation. If you've grown brassicas, then follow them with other crops for a few seasons to prevent disease.

Sow seeds during spring for a summer and autumn crop and summer for a winter and spring crop.

Swedes are a root crop, so seedlings do not transplant well. Sow seeds directly into shallow drills and cover lightly with soil or old compost. Keep the soil moist until seeds have germinated and prick out spare seedlings to space plants about 4 inches apart.

Don't mulch swedes but give them a regular feed with a good organic liquid furtiliser.

Harvest when you think the roots are big enough. A 3 to 4 inch diameter is a good size.