How to Grow Rutabaga Tops

Prepare the ground where you want to plant your rutabagas. Loosen the soil with a hoe or cultivator. This is best done after a week of dry days, so that the soil is easier to work. Working in compost as you till the soil improves its fertility. If you have clay soil, working in sand improves drainage.

Plant the rutabaga seeds during March and April. Space the seeds 6 inches apart and cover them with one-half inch of soil. Keep the soil moist but not wet. The seeds should germinate within two weeks.

Water your rutabaga seedlings weekly with 1 inch of water. If you live in a rainy area, keep an empty cat food tin near your rutabaga patch to judge if you need to water. Once the seedlings reach a height of 3 to 4 inches, thin them to one plant every 6 inches.

Feed your rutabagas with a balanced fertilizer every two weeks. Because you are harvesting the greens, the plants must continually add new growth. To do this, the rutabagas need extra food so you need to feed them more often than you would if only growing them for their roots.

Harvest the greens from your rutabagas once the leaves reach 5 inches or longer. To keep your plant producing greens, trim off only three or four leaves from each plant. Use garden clippers or kitchen scissors to cut the leaf an inch above the soil line. The plants sprout fresh leaves until summer.