What is that squatting ominously in the corner of the garden? Is it an alien life form? Or perhaps it is an improvised explosive device? It just might be a crashed government surveillance drone!
Who do you call? The Men in Black or the State Police possibly; this sort of thing may well be beyond the abilities of the local authorities to deal with.
Better just call Rachael Ray for a recipe because what you are looking at is a perfectly normal kohlrabi, a brassica which is closely related to cabbages, kale and cauliflower. It is an uncommon but useful early spring vegetable and zone 6 gardeners should be thinking of seeding it into the garden directly in a week or two, which would be about 4 weeks before the final frost in New Jersey.
Kohlrabi is easy to grow. In average soil that has been turned and had compost and hardwood ashes added simply plant perhaps 3 seeds in locations separated from each other seeding site by 9” on average. When these seeds emerge, as they will in about 5 or 6 days thin to one sturdy seedling.
Water when dry, and keep well weeded. And that is that, kohlrabies requires no further side dressings and are rarely troubled by insect pests. In roughly sixty five days they are matured and can be picked for several weeks.
Kohlrabi makes an excellent fall crop as well.
Kohlrabi may be served hot or cold, or made into slaws or soups. The greens can and should be eaten as well, steamed or boiled as you would the collards and cabbages they are related to.
As you would expect from any member of the extensive brassica genus kohlrabi is simply stuffed with healthful vitamins, minerals and compounds.
It seems this odd looking little veggie is easy to grow, versatile in the extreme and packed with nutrition. Why not try kohlrabi in your back yard garden and learn all about its goodness in person?
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