permaculture

[rrandall1 <rrandall1@houston.rr.com>]

I have grown typhon--usually spelled tyfon.  It is a Brassica closely  
related to the turnip but mainly is used as fodder or green manure.  
Not very good.  Kohlrabi's are stem vegetables with delicious flesh  
making a good cuke substitute in winter here--eat the stem ball above  
the soil.  Quite different.  Bountiful Gardens sells tyfon

Brassica rapa “Tyfon”
An edible green manure. Highly nutritious, productive, very fast  
growing crop. Can be grown in all parts of the country. Extremely  
winter-hardy to 10 degrees at least, and bolt resistant. If harvested  
by cutting back, several cuttings can be made at 30 to 40 intervals.  
Best cut when young and tender. Mild flavored, can be used in both  
salads or cooked. Mowing to the ground kills it. 30-60” high if  
allowed. 800 seeds.

Bob Randall

On Nov 5, 2006, at 2:00 AM, Robyn Williamson wrote:

> Hi Neshura
>
> Typhon sounds very much like a vegetable we call kohlrabi.  I found
> confusion in botanical names for what appears to be the same plant:
>
> Brassica oleracea var gongylodes, and
> Brassica oleracea var caulorapa, also
> Brassica oleracea gongylodes caulorapa
>
> There's a photo of 2 hybrids of it growing on what looks like
> hard-baked clay in Arizona, plus plenty of cultural information at:
>
> http://cipm.ncsu.edu/cropprofiles/docs/Azkohlrabi.html
>
> However, you will need your permaculture filter ON when you read the
> information on this site as it contains inappropriate tillage  
> practices
> and recommends a vast array of lethal chemical cocktails for
> controlling pests and diseases to which kohlrabi is susceptible (when
> thousands of acres are grown as a monoculture that may be visible from
> outer space let alone to any local pests hanging out for a feed).  The
> information is otherwise useful, especially the section strangely
> called "Abiotic Diseases" which describes various signs of damage
> caused by local environmental conditions.
>
> You may find a local seed source if you instead google "kohlrabi", I
> found lots of good recipes too.
>
> Cheers, Robyn
>
> On Sunday, November 5, 2006, at 04:00 am,
> permaculture-request@lists.ibiblio.org/Neshura wrote:
>
> > I'm not familiar with this and didn't find much when I googled it,
> > except "Typhon, a Chinese cabbage-turnip hybrid, performs best  
> > under a
> > multiharvest system." Would love to hear more, especially if you have
> > seed sourcing information.
> CONTACT DETAILS:
>
> Robyn Williamson
> Permaculture Design Consultant
> Urban Horticulturist
> Local Seed Network Coordinator
> NORTH WESTERN SYDNEY COMMUNITY SEED SAVERS
> mobile:  0409 151 435
> ph/fx:  (612) 9629 3560
> http://www.seedsavers.net
> http://www.communityfoods.org.au
> http://www.communitygarden.org.au
> http://www.baulkhamhills.nsw.gov.au/Bidjiwong
>
> I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever  
> died of
> ignorance. *-Reuben Blades*
>
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