Mystery root...

[Guest]

Yesterday I started digging in the lovely weather. Part of my patch is a bit of a jungle as I was ill last summer and things did not always get done. I came across a large round root, like a turnip, but not turnip leaves. There was also a large white ??Japanese?? radish gone berserk and now going to flower/seed nicely, but this is not it. Thinking back to what seed I had last year I am wondering if it might be a spinach beet? If so, is it edible as a root vegetable, how do I cook it, or if I leave it will it grow on? The leaves might be that...It was interesting to read re parsnips seeding themselves as one has started to flower in that wild patch. Thank you for that info; I think I will net off that small part and see what develops there now.

[Molly]

Personally I wouldn't risk eating anything if I don't know exactly what it is! The root you found sounds similar to one I dug up in a new vegetable patch I was making a few years ago. The plant itself was some kind of climber which shot about 40 feet up into an old plum tree. The leaves were a very strange shape which I had never seen before and nobody could tell me what it was. Even if yours isn't the same as mine was, I really wouldn't risk eating it if I were you!

[Guest]

Hmmmmm I think that this is a Swiss Chard beet? The leaves look like it and I did plant some seeds there. Anyone else had this happen? I ate a leaf.. definitely chard...... And no, I don't eat anything I don't know; but this is so like a large turnip...