Champion Rapeseed (yellow with red collar) - Vilmorin seeds - Brassica napus

The 'Champion' Rutabaga is a variety that forms large tubercles with a red collar and yellow flesh, very fine. This rutabaga is hardy and exceptionally productive. It is a vegetable for autumn and winter, a bit forgotten, that is easily cultivated, a rediscovery! Sowing from May to June for a harvest from October to December.

The Rutabaga, also called Swede, Siamese Cabbage or Swedish Cabbage, is a root vegetable from Northern Europe that belongs to the large family of Brassicaceae. It results from cross-breeding between cabbage and turnip and bears the Latin name Brassica napus. It is grown as a vegetable or fodder plant, for the white or yellow root it forms, similar to turnips.

Kept away from our plates for decades because it reminded too much of war and its restrictions, this vegetable is easy to cultivate and thrives in cold and humid climates.

Its nutritional value is high, and its flavour is similar to that of potatoes and radishes. It is generally consumed cooked in soups, mashed, gratin, and even caramelised fries. Raw and grated, it can be used in salads with carrots. From a dietary point of view, the Rutabaga is very interesting: it is pretty calorie-rich and contains a lot of potassium, calcium, and phosphorus. It is known to be digestive, even slightly laxative. It is an excellent vegetable for autumn and winter.

In the vegetable garden, the 'Champion' Rutabaga shares, to a lesser extent, the exact requirements as other cabbages: sunlight, deep and well-drained soil, good organic matter, and regular moisture. It should be noted that this variety does well in ordinary soil.

Harvest is done by pulling up the tubercle when it reaches ripeness.

Storage: it keeps very well in the ground (provided it is well-drained) or in a cellar. You can keep it in the refrigerator for several days, weeks, and months in the freezer after blanching it for a few minutes in salted boiling water.

The gardener's tip: To reduce watering, we recommend that, when the plants are well developed, you mulch the soil with thin successive layers of grass clippings, if possible, mixed with dead leaves. This protection, which keeps the soil moist, reduces weeding and acts as thermal protection against the coldest temperatures.