When your porch pumpkin starts to slump, another crop can steal the show this time of year.

Turnips.

The original Jack-O-Lantern, turnips are a quick cool season crop providing arguably as much instant gratification as radishes – measured in farm time, of course.

Turnips can be eaten as greens or as a root vegetable and early varieties only average a five weeks to maturity.

Turnips don’t transplant well, but a direct seeded crop sowed heavily can be thinned to salad greens while the spaced out roots take their time.

Often used interchangeably, rutabagas and turnips are not the same crop. They are similar, but rutabagas take longer to mature.

Consistent soil moisture can prevent your turnips from getting tough, bitter, and woody.

As with many crops this time of year, turnips harvested after a frost (but before a freeze) have a sweeter taste.

Turnips can store well for three months and longer when kept in a cool, dark spot.