Hakurei Turnip

Brassica rapa

vegetable

Hakurei is the benchmark Japanese salad turnip (a kabu-type Brassica rapa), and it changes how people think about turnips. The smooth, pure-white, golf-ball-sized roots are so sweet, mild, and crisp that they are eaten raw out of hand or sliced into salads, with none of the pungency of storage turnips. They mature fast - about 38 days - and the greens are equally prized, tender and delicious cooked or raw. A cool-season crop, Hakurei is excellent for both spring and fall sowings and for succession planting, giving quick, gourmet returns from a small space.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• English Shelling Pea — An early cool-season crop that shares the same spring window and fixes nitrogen for the leafy greens
• Green Leaf Lettuce — Another fast, shallow-rooted cool-season crop that interplants neatly between turnip rows
• Nasturtium — Acts as a trap crop for aphids and flea beetles, drawing them away from the turnips

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Flea beetles →

  Tiny beetles that pepper the leaves with shot holes - cover seedlings with floating row cover from sowing and keep plants vigorous so they outgrow the damage

• Root maggots →

  Fly larvae that tunnel the roots - use row cover to block egg-laying and avoid planting where brassicas grew recently

• Aphids →

  Hose off colonies on the greens and support ladybugs and lacewings

🌾 Harvest & storage

Pull Hakurei turnips young and small, at about 1 to 2 in. across, when they are sweetest and most tender - they can be ready in as little as five weeks, and oversized roots lose their delicate quality. Harvest the whole plant and use both parts: eat the roots raw, roasted, or quick-sautéed, and cook the nutritious greens like any turnip top. Pick greens lightly as the roots size up if you want both. They do not store long, so harvest as needed and refrigerate for up to a week.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Hakurei turnips are low in calories and a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and potassium, and the greens are even more nutritious, rich in vitamins A, C, and K, calcium, and folate. The roots are unusually sweet and mild, delicious raw in salads and slaws or lightly cooked, while the tops cook down like other hearty greens, making this a true two-in-one vegetable from one fast-maturing plant.