<p>85-95 days. A globe-shaped root with an attractive creamy-coloured interior and purple shoulder. High resistance to club root and mildew. Shorter, wider leaves allow closer spacing on this Laurentian-like variety. Can grow 20cm (8 in.) in diameter. Good tasting, highly uniform and vigorous.</p><p>CULTURE: For large roots, plant seed by mid-July. Sowing after mid-August results in virtually no roots to harvest. June sowings make gigantic roots. By October/November, roots from a well-thinned 20cm (8 in.) sowing in July will be huge and tasty. <br>DISEASE: No common problems in our climate. <br>INSECTS: Susceptible to cole crop pests. A floating row cover (see page 76), especially over newly seeded area, is very helpful. <br>SEEDSPEC: Minimum germination standard: 80%. Days to emergence: 3-14. Optimum soil temperature range for germination: 20-30 deg. C (68-85 deg. F). Days to maturity: from date of direct seeding. One gram contains approximately 200 seeds. Usual seed life: 3 years.</p><p>This is grown mainly in two forms, swede and oil-seed rape, which is now a common feature of spring in Europe. There is also a leafy variety grown for animal fodder in northern Europe and New Zealand. Brassica napus is known to have originated from crosses between B. rapa, the turnip, and B. oleracea, the cabbage group. It is likely that swedes first appeared in medieval gardens where turnips and kale were growing together. Swedes were first mentined in European botanical literature by Caspar Bauhin in 1620, but they are probably considerably older than this. They arrived in England from Sweden about 1775, and that is how the common name originated, but they are traditionally eaten in midwinter in Scotland as an accompaniment to haggis. Swedes are hardier than turnips, and their usually yellow-fleshed roots are less watery.</p>
