In late summer, I planted turnips as part of my fall crop. They sprouted about the time the grasshoppers were ravaging the garden but they missed one lonely little turnip. For a while, I would pick a few leaves for salads but it grew and the leaves got tough and I just left it alone.
I’m ready to plant the spring garden so I was pulling out the few things left in the garden and I got to the old turnip and it wasn’t budging! I had to get a shovel and dig it out! I had no idea what a monster was growing underground!
The picture doesn’t give much perspective as to how huge this thing is but I wanted to take it over for the chickens to munch on and I could barely drag the thing!
Turnip
A few of the chickens were in their pen so I thought I’d stick it inside the pen. I dragged it in there and it scared the chickens half to death. Vince didn’t know I was with the chickens and he came outside to see why there was such a ruckus in the chicken pen. Don’t worry! It’s just a giant turnip!
The chickens were so frazzled and upset that I went back and got the giant turnip and put it outside their pen but they could still see it and they were squawking and in a panic so I had to go back out again and get the crazy turnip and move it way over past the propane tank so they couldn’t see it.
If I would pull all the greens off, they would eat the greens that that bottom part . . I’ll have to admit . . it looks pretty scary!
Rebecca in SoCal says
What a funny story!
Kim Webb says
Funny chickens.
Your story reminded me of a book I used to love as a child.
The carrot seed.
Dru Erpel says
This reminds me of the children’s book “The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip” by Alexei Tolstoy.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Big-Enormous-Turnip/dp/0531016846
wanda j says
Looks like something we would have grown in Alaska.Too funny thanks for sharing.
katie says
What if you chopped it into smaller pieces, would they be ok then? Or do they just like the top?
JudyL says
The truth is . . if they want it, they can eat it and if they don’t, I surely don’t care. I can throw it out in the woods, never to be seen again. It would take an ax or a chain saw to cut it up. I figured they would play around with it and maybe eat the greens but I didn’t, though I should have, think they would be deathly afraid of it.