Brassica vegetables as edible greens in Newfoundland

Turnip tops or greens, the early leaves of rutabaga (Brassica napus var. ra pifera L.), are a traditional Newfoundland vegetable. Commercial farmers cu rrently grow and market forage rape (B. napus L.) as greens. Our objectives were to determine why forage rape is now grown in preference to other Bras sica crops and to examine potential greens alternatives. Seed from two cult ivars each of three Brassicas [rutabaga, forage rape and forage kale (Brass ica oleracea var. medullosa L.)] was used in: 1) a germination study at 5, 10, 15 and 20 degreesC; 2) a growth study at constant temperature regimes o f 12 and 18 degreesC; 3) a 2 yr agronomic study; and 4) a sensory evaluatio n for appearance and taste as a boiled vegetable. Hobson rape, Dwarf Essex rape and the locally bred Brookfield rutabaga germinated, emerged and grew faster than both kale cultivars and Laurentian rutabaga at all controlled-t emperature regimes. The two kale cultivars and Laurentian rutabaga did not exhibit adequate agronomic potential. Although the rape cultivars were amon g the top-yielding entries at most harvests, Brookfield rutabaga yielded gr eater leaf weight in both years of the agronomic study. Judges preferred th e visual appearance of greens with dark green leaves, a characteristic of t he forage rape cultivars studied, but favored the taste of boiled kale.