Rutabaga is an exciting option to improve your late season hunting opportunities. We know this because we have been testing it for the past few seasons after an organic farmer in our area told us he couldn’t grow them for his family because the deer wouldn’t leave his garden alone. He gave us a bag of seed to try for ourselves, the deer on our property cooperated, and we haven’t looked back.
Rutabaga is a heavy-root producing planting perfect for late-season energy and cold weather performance. Compared to turnips, rutabagas put more of their growth into large, dense, nutrient rich bulbs. So, you get all the benefits of turnips only better!
If you like planting sugar beets you should definitely consider rutabaga as it is a much more affordable alternative. In fact, we tested rutabaga side by side with sugar beets at our testing location and on multiple hunting properties for three years with great results. Rutabaga performed much better than fussier sugar beets that are harder to grow, require more fertilizer, don’t like weed competition, and are susceptible to drought.
Have we mentioned deer love them? Absolutely, which is exactly why we offer them. We have even started including them in a few of our brassica mixes which has exceeded our expectations.
If planting alone, we recommend planting by the middle of July. Prepare your seed bed and then broadcast ahead of a rain event.
Planting rate is 6 pounds per acre and 3 pounds per half acre.
Package size is 3 pounds.
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