Although a member of the brassica family, swedes are grown for their delicious roots, rather than their leaves. Many confuse them with turnips, and although the two are related, swedes are much sweeter and hardier, and can be harvested later in the year. Experienced gardeners would also say that swedes are easier to grow, so long as you’re able to give them the right conditions.

Swedes need a growing season of about 4-6 months before the first frost of the autumn hits. While starting your seeds off indoors can help to give you a head start on this, this crop also does well when direct sown outdoors in late spring, especially if you live in a warmer region.

One other thing to keep in mind is that, unlike most other brassicas, you don’t need to successionally sow swedes. Once mature, they’ll keep in the ground for quite a few months, so you can go ahead and sow all of your swede seeds at the same time.