'Miss Gladys McGee's Turnip' Rutabaga-Turnip

Brassica napus (or perhaps should be considered B. napus x rapa) Origin: Potsdam, New York Improvement status: Cultivar Seeds per packet: ~100 Germination tested 02/2026: 94% Life cycle: Biennial We are extremely excited to finally be offering seeds for this unique and rare heirloom rutabaga-turnip. EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman was given seeds in the spring of 2018 by Bill McKentley, one of the longtime proprietors of the justly famous St. Lawrence Nurseries in Potsdam, New York (in the extreme north of New York state, past the Adirondacks and near the St. Lawrence River). While Nate was there picking up some trees, Bill showed him some absolutely enormous roots chilling in a root cellar. One weighed at least 12 pounds (see photo) — and Bill insisted they can reach 25 pounds in one growing season and still be delicious! In our experience, they really can get very large without getting woody or stringy or anything bad. In the April 1999 edition of the Potsdam Co-op News, Mary-Ann Cateforis — whom we ultimately have to thank for preserving this precious heirloom — published the following letter: "Miss Gladys McGee was our back fence neighbor, a spunky lady in her 80's, when we were new in Potsdam in the mid 1970's. She had been the Potsdam Town Clerk and a piano teacher. Her father owned a music store on Market Street many years ago. Miss McGee had a nice little garden where she grew turnips like I had never seen before. They were large, with long tapering light green necks. She said her father had saved the seeds, and so had she. If she knew their name, she never told me. The autumn when Miss McGee died, there was one fine big turnip left in her garden, and I knew she was saving it for seed. (Turnips go to seed the second year.) I figured she would have wanted someone to rescue it, so I did. I kept the turnip in a plastic bag (loosely closed) in our refrigerator that winter and planted it the next spring in a big pot of compost. I kept it right outside our back door where the woodchucks wouldn't nibble it. I've grown these turnips and saved the seeds ever since. For a couple of years I offered them through Seed Savers Exchange. Another member is now offering them as Miss Gladys McKee's Rutabagas. He's mixed up on the McKee, but I'm glad he's re-offering them, and I'll trust him on the rutabaga part. I was surprised though, because these are white fleshed and slightly sweet, nothing at all like any rutabaga I have tasted. You're invited to carry on the heirloom tradition by saving your own Miss Gladys McGee's Turnip seeds. (You may prefer to call them rutabagas.) It's really not hard, as the roots are well adapted to overwintering. They will keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or on the cool floor of a basement, or left in an un-tilled part of the garden. A little mulch helps to protect the long necks if it gets really cold. Some of the roots might provide winter food for hungry chimpunks, mice, or voles, so I bring some in just to be sure. But I don't panic if I lose a crop, as there are always a few volunteers; and the seeds I have saved from other years are viable for at least five years. Another nice thing about leaving some roots in the garden over the winter is that they'll provide late fall and early spring greens. You can harvest part of the leaves and flowers, and a large vigorous root will still produce plenty of seeds. This may be superfluous, but just in case you're wondering; wait until the seed pods are dry and tan, brittle and rattley, then harvest by cutting them off into a paper sack. The pods will not spring open, but they will fall open when bumped or shaken." There is little doubt "Miss Gladys McGee's Turnip" is actually a rutabaga-turnip cross, like the better-known 'Gilfeather' and 'Macomber' varieties — and it may indeed be derived from one of those. But it has definitely become a distinct variety, given its long tenure in chilly Potsdam and the genetic bottlenecking inherent in Miss Gladys' stewardship of the variety. And we believe it is definitely fair to label it a Brassica napus, for reasons described below. Though Miss Gladys called it a "turnip", true turnips are Brassica rapa, which are self-incompatible. Since we know from the letter above that at least once (if not many times) it produced seeds from just a single plant, we know it is at least part Brassica napus, because unlike B. rapa, B. napus actually are self-compatible (meaning capable of self-pollination). Brassica napus — rutabagas and Red Russian-type kales — is considered to be its own species, but it is actually the result of a long-ago cross between a turnip (B. rapa) and some sort of cabbage, kale, or collard (Brassica oleracea). So backcrossing it with a turnip, as likely happened to produce this variety, would mean it is still an interspecific hybrid, though it is perhaps more like three-quarters rapa and only one-quarter oleracea, instead of 50/50. But whatever you call it, it's absolutely wonderful. We like it better than both turnips and rutabagas. It really is an extraordinary beast. These seeds were grown for us by our dear friend Clint Freund of Cultivating the Commons in Amery, Wisconsin, who first grew this variety as part of his 'Rutabangin' rutabaga grex (which is still available for sale here, as of this writing). We're very grateful to Clint for helping to maintain this truly special variety. GROWING TIPS: Can be started indoors a few weeks before last frost or direct-sown in spring. Capable of overwintering in the ground (though critters will be interested in it), but best overwintered in a protected root cellar, basement, or garage.