We're here at the Baker Creek winter greenhouses, and we've got our fans going overhead.
That's great for air circulation, otherwise you could just roll up the sides of your greenhouse
to get some airflow in.
And we only heat these greenhouses minimally, so this is easy for you to do if you have
your own greenhouse.
We just keep the temperature at a minimum of 40 degrees, so we don't want our greenhouses
going below 40 at night, and we very infrequently have to use the heat.
So it's a low maintenance, low cost way to produce some winter vegetables.
So I want to talk to you guys a little bit about root crops that you can produce in the
winter in your greenhouses.
This is a great way to add some texture to those salads and those wintertime meals.
Some crunch, some substance.
We've got these beautiful Japanese salad turnips that I want to show you first.
This one is called Nagasaki Akari Kabu.
It's a Japanese salad turnip.
So you can see this is incredibly delicate.
It's not a big, honking turnip.
It's small, buttery, the flesh is super tender, the skin is ultra-thin.
And these are traditionally pickled, they mature in just 40 to 50 days.
They're really quick growing.
They thrive in the short days of winter, in the cool weather here.
And they're traditionally used for pickling and also for eating raw.
I like to eat them right out of the greenhouse because they are so incredibly mild.
You maybe think of turnips as something that would be bitter or spicy, but these are so
sweet.
There's absolutely no bite to them when you grow them in the winter; they're buttery,
they're sweet, they have hints of honey, they're really complex flavored.
I'll bet you didn't know that turnips could taste like this!
I really do recommend that you try the Japanese salad turnips, and in particular this beautiful
rosy red Nagasaki Akari turnip.
Another fantastic Japanese salad turnip is the one called Hinona Kabu.
Look at these long, tapered roots.
These can reach one to even two feet long, and unbelievably, even getting so huge, they're
going to maintain this really buttery, crisp texture.
They're not going to become pithy or woody.
That's why we love them as a winter crop.
They just thrive here in the winter greenhouses.
They love the short days of winter, they love the cool weather.
It's typically coated in salt and pickled in Japan, it's a traditional pickling salad
turnip, but it's also eaten raw.
The flavor is unbelievable.
It's buttery and sweet.
Complex, but it's not bitter.
It's not even spicy like many turnips and radishes.
This is the Hidabeni turnip.
This is a Japanese salad turnip with this gorgeous rosy skin.
This is an old variety; this red version was actually developed in about 1918 in Japan.
This variety comes from Takayama City, and so it's an incredible traditional Japanese
variety.
It's very popular as a pickle, but it's also great for eating raw.
It's got a beautiful color.
What I really like about this variety is these robust turnip greens.
Never let your turnip greens go to waste.
These are nutritious, they're so tasty.
In the winter they're going to be extra mild.
And I really want to try this beautiful purple root because it just looks so enticing.
It's really mild, with just a hint of spice.
Really good balance.
It almost has like a little bit of a honey aftertaste.
I really like that we're doing this little turnip tasting, and we're really getting in-depth
with these flavors, because right now, in the middle of winter, we're really getting
a full depth of flavor from this variety.
This is truly how they're supposed to taste.
They're getting kissed by a little bit of cool weather, and they're thriving.
There's very minimal pest problems when they're growing in the winter.
They're just, they're doing so well, and they taste their absolute best.
So if you really want a treasure for your winter garden, try some Japanese salad turnips.
They're really the perfect choice.
So this is the Sichuan full red radish.
It's beautiful, this one is a traditional red radish from China.
I love growing radishes in winter.
They mature quickly, they add really nice color to the wintertime dinner plate, and
they're great raw.
They're excellent pickled - they're traditionally pickled in China.
You can see they have this bold red skin.
Then you check it out inside, and it's got a great color inside as well.
It's red all the way through.
It's crisp.
The wintertime cold has really mellowed out any spiciness.
It's nutty - it has kind of a nutty flavor, a little bit sweet, with just a hint of spicy.
This is a really beautifully balanced, balanced radish.
This would be really excellent in your salads.
I would eat this raw shaved in a salad, that would be really fantastic.
So try this Sichuan full red radish in your wintertime garden!