Early Purple
Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi is a pre-1860 heirloom that delivers what few vegetables can: striking purple skin wrapped around sweet, tender white flesh, all in just 55 days. These bulbs grow above ground on sturdy stems, making them easy to spot and harvest at their prime. They taste like mild cabbage with subtle sweetness, equally delicious roasted whole, sliced thin raw, or steamed until buttery. Cold-hardy and dependable, this variety has been a kitchen staple for well over a century because it simply works, producing high yields even in cool growing seasons.
Full Sun
Moderate
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Annual
Moderate
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The bulbs develop a stunning deep purple exterior that makes them as ornamental as they are productive. The real appeal lies in the contrast between that vibrant skin and the pale, sweet flesh inside, which stays tender and flavorful whether you harvest at golf-ball size or let them grow slightly larger. At 55 days to maturity, you'll have full-sized bulbs ready to eat before many other brassicas even begin forming heads. Its frost-hardy nature means you can push your growing season in both spring and fall.
Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi is at home in the kitchen prepared almost any way you choose. The tender bulbs are excellent roasted whole or halved, their sweetness intensifying as they caramelize. Raw, they slice into crisp, refreshing salads with a gentle cabbage-like crunch. They braise beautifully in butter or cream, steam into silky sides dishes, or get diced into soups and stews. The young leaves are also edible and cook down like mild greens, making this a plant that gives you two harvests from one.
Start seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before your last spring frost at soil temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Seeds will sprout in 6 to 9 days under those conditions. Transplant seedlings outdoors once they've developed true leaves and soil has warmed slightly, hardening them off gradually to outdoor conditions.
Transplant seedlings outdoors after the last frost date in spring, or 8 to 10 weeks before your first fall frost for a fall crop. Space plants 6 to 8 inches apart in full sun. They'll tolerate cool soil and can even handle light frosts once established.
Direct sow seeds in spring or summer at soil temperatures of 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Plant 1/4 inch deep and keep soil moist until germination occurs. Thin seedlings to 6 to 8 inches apart once they're established, using the thinned greens in salads if desired.
Harvest Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi when the bulbs are between golf-ball and tennis-ball size, typically 55 days after planting. At this stage, the flesh remains most tender and sweet. Check bulbs by gently feeling beneath the leaves; the skin should feel firm but yield slightly to pressure. You can harvest earlier for smaller, more delicate bulbs, or wait a few days longer for slightly larger ones, though texture may begin to coarsen if left too long. Simply cut the bulb from the plant at its base with a sharp knife, leaving the roots in the ground.
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“Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi dates back before 1860, making it one of the oldest reliable cultivars still widely grown. It emerged during an era when gardeners in Vienna and across Europe were refining kohlrabi varieties for both home use and market production. This heirloom survived more than 160 years not through luck, but because it does exactly what gardeners need: it produces abundantly, matures quickly, and tastes genuinely good. Seed savers have maintained it faithfully, passing it forward through generations precisely because it represents that rare heirloom trait of being both delicious and dependable.”