Moroccan Natural Turnip Seeds

✨ Moroccan Natural Turnip Seeds — The Little Seed of the Left

These are whole dried turnip seeds, the seeds of the same plant that gives the white and purple turnips cooked in Moroccan couscous and tagines. They are known as turnip seed, graines de navet, بذور اللفت, بزر اللفت and, in classical Arabic, بزر السلجم. In Moroccan Darija they are zriât l-left (زريعة اللفت), often written left or lift. The botanical name is Brassica rapa. The photograph shows their form: a mound of tiny, round, smooth seeds in rose-red to reddish-brown tones. Crushed, they give a mild, mustard-like warmth.

🌿 Traditional and Cultural Uses

Turnip seed has a long place in Arab and Moroccan herbal traditions. Old Arab herbal books praised بزر اللفت as a warming seed, and it was traditionally ground and mixed with honey as a household tonic for strength and vitality. Grandmothers also prepared it with honey during the cold months, when it was traditionally taken to soothe coughs and a tight chest. In the countryside, families kept their own turnip seed from one season to the next, so that every autumn the garden would again give turnips for the winter couscous.

🍵 How to Use

• 🌱 Sow the seeds directly in the garden or in a deep pot for turnips and turnip greens.
• 🥗 Grow them on a tray as quick microgreens with a gentle peppery bite.
• 🍯 Grind a small pinch just before use and stir it into a spoon of honey, the traditional way.

🥣 Sowing Turnips at Home

1. Choose a sunny spot with loose, well-drained soil, or a pot at least 25 cm deep.
2. Sow the seeds about 1 cm deep in rows, from late summer through autumn, when the heat eases.
3. Keep the soil evenly moist; the seedlings usually appear within a week.
4. Thin the young plants to about 10 cm apart and cook the thinnings as tender greens.
5. Pull the turnips while they are still small and tender.

🧾 Ingredients

100% whole dried turnip seeds. Nothing added.

🔬 Product Profile

Brassica rapa belongs to the Brassicaceae, the mustard and cabbage family, alongside radish, mustard and garden cress. This product is supplied as whole, loose dried seeds from Morocco, ready to sow, sprout or grind at home.

📦 How We Sell It

Whole, loose dried turnip seeds, available in 100g, 250g, 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 3kg and 5kg options.

🌤️ Storage

Keep the seeds in a tightly closed jar or pouch in a cool, dry, dark cupboard, away from moisture. Seeds kept dry and cool stay lively for sowing for about two to three years, while for the kitchen they are best used within a year.