Kohlrabi

Saturday 31 December 2011

If Galena, Alaska, ever becomes an argicultural area, this is the cash crop. Kohlrabi is always big, juicy, and tasty. It grows well in warm years and cold years, dry years and wet years. Sudden frosts in midsummer pass by without a scratch. Every variety is hardy. On top of that, this vegetable stores really well, and we're using it in stews, soups, and slaws throughout the winter. The plant seems impervious to any insect infestation and plant disease.

Summer 2011

We planted a number of different varieties and kept records this year, coming up with interesting results.

Early White - I used some seeds from 1996, just to see what would happen. The seedlings grew very weak, the seedlings were wan, and the end product showed a lot of rot and splitting during harvest. Maybe they would have been better with newer seeds.

Kolibri Hybrid - These gave me perfect but small bulbs.

Winner - I have a record of planting these, but nothing after that. I wonder what happened to them.

Eder - Fine, beautiful, large and well-rounded, with a thin skin and a sweet inside. However, these are also the ones which started showing small rot spots on the bulb in December in the root cellar, and not at the point where the leaves fell off in storage. However, they are the best tasting of the bunch.

Giant Purple - These were gorgeous kohlrabi, huge purple bulbs with green stripes. They're storing very well.

Delicatesse Blue - Half of these bolted, and the rest had no bulbs at all. A real bummer.

Kossak - Another batch of large, beautifully-shaped bulbs. Storing well.

Superschmelz - I've grown these other years and had great success. For whatever reason, these just did nothing. However, I'm keeping them on my "good" list.