A little story about turnips

Growing up, my papaw (Joe) always had a decent garden. One of the things he grew was turnips (purple tops). Now I won't lie and claim to have loved turnips as a kid (spoiler alert i didn't). I was however always intrigued by the process of how he would store them. At the end of summer he'd pull them and place them in the shed under layers of hay. I thought this was weird but oddly interested why. As many of you know the process is for preservation in the fall/winter. The hay mimics as the ground so the turnips stay usable during the cold months as the ground starts to freeze so you could have fresh turnips all through the fall and winter months. Now as an adult I've discovered my love of all things turnips (greens to the bulbs) but the memory and fascination of my papaws way of holding them for storage is what sparked my interest in revisiting and finding love for the vegetable. Now I grow and store my own and it always gives me such joy and brings back such vivid memories because of him.

Pictured below....turnip green pesto.