Bitter greens

I have turnips, mustard, kale and spinach in the garden, every one tastes wonderful but the turnips,

They are very bitter, I'm picking young, but the biggest of the young leaves. Never had this before.

We recently before planting, put down lime in the garden, it was way past due, and we put down alot of garden lime, (powder) not pellets. Do you think this has something to do with the bitter taste of the turnips, or are they just that way, the mustard tastes wonderful. so does the kale and spinach, Kale isn't even bitter or strong.

It's frustrating, I was wanting to put up a bunch of turnip greens, but if they taste this bad, who wants them, it's a waste

kathy

Two possibilities 1. cabbage maggots - These are a tiny white worm that does a number on turnip roots. They stress the plant the plant to the point that it becomes stunted and bitter. There are other stress factors, but they should also affect your kale and mustard. 2. Cultivar- the greens only cultivars like Seven Top can get bitter if the growth is not lush.

well, guess I'll go pull a few up and see if there are any buggies in the roots,

thanks

kathy

well, I checked, there are no worms in the turnips, their not big yet, and some are strange looking, LOL maybe from being cramped in, but man, I just dumped out the last batch of turnip greens I cooked cause they were so bitter. DH said dont make any more if their gonna taste like that. Even Salt didn't take away the bitter.

This is so strange that the mustard greens are so delicious.

kathy

Very strange and I am stumped. They appear to be very normal Purple Top/White Globes, the standard for turnips. Does the bitterness also extend to the turnips?

well, That I don't know, haven't ate any of the turnips yet.

guess I'll go see about picking some of the biggest since that one in the picture is probably some of the biggest I have right now. and cook them for supper.

will post later on and let you know how they taste.

kathy

Try a slice raw before you cook them. It might be a good idea to nibble on a leaf also, But raw turnips are much more tasty than raw turnip greens.

Turnip greens will lose much of their bitterness it you "nearly overcook" them. I would just rinse them, then cook them in a pot, add a bit of water (and some streak-alean or salted fatback, it you eat meat) and bring to a boil, then simmer for no less than 45 minutes. That will help remove any bitterness. It's been often said that cooking them in chicken broth/stock will also remove the bitterness.

Personally, I've only noticed them being bitter when the greens are getting a bit on with age or stressed due to excessive temperatures. (But I don't mind, I just put a bit of hot pepper vinegar on them when served! Yummy!)

More often than not, I mix my greens and cook turnips greens along with my kale and mustard. Delicious!

Shoe.

I've been meaning to try the 3 together. just have n't done it yet.

by the way, turnips tasted wonderful, no bitter taste at all.

and I gave a few of the cooked turnip greens to a lady andshe tasted no bitterness at all, LOL go figure, it could be just us, when you have 4 kinds out there, you candefinitely taste the diff in all the greens, but I've had turnip greens before and they didn't taste this bitter at all, they had a wonderful flavor.

I will try the chicken broth too,

I have been putting bacon in the greens for flavor also

kathy

We sometimes add a teaspoon of sugar to cooking greens if they are particularly strong flavored. We always cook our greens in chicken broth with freshly grated ginger root.

LarryD

I put a spoonful of sorghum molasses in my turnip greens...along with the fatback.

Hmmm....ginger root sounds great, Larry! (Must be one of those great recipes from your wife, eh!?)

Shoe.

edited to say...

Dang...now i gotta go get me some sorghum, Mel! Thanks! :>)


This message was edited Oct 30, 2006 8:46 PM

LOL, yes, this will give me the opportunity to try the turnip greens again, I have high hopes for using the ginger and trying the sorgum molasses, I don't know where to get sorgum molasses at, but I have bare rabbit molasses LOL will that work?

kathy

Kathy, I betcha as long as it ain't blackstrap molasses it'll work just fine!

Shoe.

SHOE...... right again!!! My (Chinese )wife's idea.

LD

Reckon I'll grow some ginger next to my greens patch next year, Larry!

guess I'll try it then,

kathy

Try putting a pinch of baking soda in the first water you cook greens in. Let them come to a boil, and then drain off that water, and put them back on with fresh water, and all your seasonings. I do this with dried beans, add a pinch of soda when cooking fresh fruit, it doesn't take as much sugar to sweeten. Just a thought, and what have you got to loose?

Thanks, I"ll try that