Turnip (Purple Top Milan)

For outdoor sowing from March to July in a prepared seed bed. Sow thinly in beds 16in apart. Cover with half inch of fine soil. Firm gently and keep moist. Seedlings appear in 14-21 days. For continuous crops sow every 2-3 weeks.

When large enough thin to 6in apart. Keep moist and weed free.

Harvest up to the diameter fo a tennis ball. Harvest June to October.

In the vegetable garden:

Planted seed direct into prepared seed bed.

Protected by canes / string (against cats/ dogs) and possibly birds and kept seedbed moist.

Seedlings began to appear after just one week. Unfortunately seedlings have been attached, with edges / whole leaves eaten. Not sure of pest but suspect slugs rather than birds.



Comments from another forum, talking about a similar attack on swede seedlings:

"It isn't just Pigeons that can do this sort of damage, both Sparrows and Blackbirds will eat the seedlings of some plants, it could also be as you mentioned before Slugs or Snails, unfortunately the best thing you can do is always protect with netting and use some sort of Slug and Snail protection, if you are Organic then Beer Traps or Organic Slug Pellets, if not then use normal Slug Pellets underneath the netting so that the Birds cannot eat them, your seedlings may recover but I think that it is unlikely, the shock of what has happened to them will seriously knock them back."