Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Mrs Ava on March 18, 2005, 22:29:50
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On the official radio 2 allotment today, the welsh chap, who's name of course I cannot for the life of me remember, said he would be out planting his parsnips today. I shall have to get a move on then and get mine in next week!
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Much too early for me.
I know February is the traditional month for sowing parsnips, but even in March the weather is not warm enough for me and I think now of late April.
Last year I was sowing parsnips 13 May !!! They germinated rather fast (soil was warm) and I had a lot and still have one row. :P
No rush for me to put parsnips in ( or anything else). Patience ;D
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Mine were sown yesteday under the hoop and plastic cloche jobs. But my soil is light and very free draining.
Stephan
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Funny you should say that EJ. I heard him (Lottie Guy) too talking about his parsnips. So it has spurred me on and I was over at the plot today to prepare the bed for mine.
Dug it over and mixed some "blood fish and bone" into the soil and then have covered it with fleece to warm it up.
Had good success last year using the tube method where you place some cut-off plastic pipe into some well drained soil, about 6-8 inches apart. I planted two seeds inside the circle and thinned out the frailer seed when it came up. Like you have mentioned before EJ I also planted some radishes in a line between the pipe and scattered a thin layer of vermiculate in the seed line so I knew they weren't weeds. It really worked a treat so doing the same this year. Think I will judge by the condition of my soil when to plant. Would like it to be a bit dryer. busy_lizzie
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The welsh allotment bloke is called Terry ;D
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Clever Wardy! ;)
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Hope I have better 'parsnip luck' this year. My 'snips must have hit a stone at each millimetre of their growth - so they came out looking like a helter skelter slide !!! ;D
No use to man nor beast...
This year, I shall mostly be trying the:-
" crow bar to make a decent hole then fill with compost and sow your seed method"
Wish me luck, cos I love 'em.
Debs ;D
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I've never grown parsnips so want to try this year. Are they like carrots in the sense that you should not freshly manure the bed. And do they need protection with fleece/enviromesh against any nasties.
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Debs :)
My First time.............Used Toilet Rolls Holders
Placed Compost 50/50 Mix with Builders sand
Lined a propagator About 2/3 Inches Over the Bottem
Filled The rolls about 1 inch from the top
Placed two seeds in Each Carton and covered to the Top
Placed the propagator on the Kitchen Table by the Radiator
Now here its still too wet and cold to plant out Like Lady Cosmos said Maybe for us its April May time.
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i sow in the ground like carrots, slower to germinate but don't get the nasties.
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Hallo Tulip-23, it is still cold and wet here. Don't forget, we are in the Bollensteek at the same longitude as Birmingham, about 52.9 is Leiden, B. is 52.30. is only 20 miles different. >:(
I always think we are much more to the south....... :'(
And we are very close to the sea, keeps it cold for longer in spring (because the sea is very cold), but keep it warmer for a while in autumn, sea gives warmth.
No potatoes or parsnips for me in the ground, I wait another 2 or 3 weeks.
Only my cold frames are full with spinach, lettuce, patisson, cucumber and melons etc... :P
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Im in no rush myself will wait a little longer for
an improvement in the Weather..........still waiting for the Mail Order Pots and shallots and Fuchias....hope this week.
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Crowbar method for me, I like the simplicity of it
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Sowed mine yesterday under a cloche (recycled fluorescent light cover) with some early carrots. Also dug several pounds of last years out, had some for supper and some into soup -that took care of the 3 big ones) The weird and wonderfull looking types are in a bag out the back. Still got most of a row of salsify to get through as well -more soup ::)
Jeremy.
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Sowed a row today. Our last one, dug for sunday lunch, was super. Sugar sweet, firm but not fibrous or woody. Roasted a treat and the lot was scoffed. Am going to try and squeeze a second row in a little later in the spring, if I can find the room! I have 4 salsify's left Jeremy but to be honest, don't know the best way to use them. Have been digging them up and bunging them in stews and casseroles. How do you eat them (apart from off the end of a fork!)??
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Are they very different from shop parsnips? (I don't like them but like all other root veg). Aslo what do you do with salsify and is it the saema s scrozonerozerous (I think that's it's name)
Bags
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Home grown, well mine, are tender, sugar sweet and fleshy, not fibrous and woody. Mum doesn't like them but wouldn't cook a stew without them!
I believe salsify and scorzenorozssiaozz are similar - I did both last year and they both did well.....believe people liken the flavour to asparagus. You can steam them and serve with a sauce or butter, or me, as I didn't know what to do, made a wonderful chunky roots 'n shoots vegetable soup.
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Derbex Ta for the tip about fluorescent light covers! My OH always seems to have some in the car for taking or fetching from somewhere. I think I'll liberate a few. It never crossed my mind to use them. I shall see them in a whole new light if you get me drift :)
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Salsify taste even better than parsnips ;D
Salsify has light skin and scorzonera has dark skin
Simple boiling is nice but
with curry sauce even better:
Salsify and parsnips and potatoes peeled, sliced in water and some lemon juice ( keeping nice colour), clean water, boil till tender, about 10 min.
- melt butter, stirr some flour, milk, make sauce
stir currypowder, salt and peper for 2 more minutes and over the salsify OR
Soup: peel, slice, boil for 10 min. add milk, salt and pepper. OR
Peel, slice 1,5cm, in lemon and water. Melt butter, put "dutch biscuits"crumbs" over salsify and fry :P
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buzzie lizzie, do you mean drain pipe type pipe , I can't imagine exactly what you mean...I planted my parsnips last Friday but I'm sure they'll fork so I want to try a different method with the second sowing, and I have never grown them before as I am new to this lottie lark
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Hi Over the years I've planted parsnips between 29th March and 1st of June. My best year was 2001 when I grew Suttons White Gem to a weight of 4lbs 2ozs and have a photo, this was planted on the 6th of May straight into my seedbed.
Regards LesH
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Hi,
I was planning to plant parnips too (yummy), and was wondering about the stone issue - as my newly dug allotment is very stoney.
So I can make some holes fill with compost / sand mix - plant 2-3 seeds per hole? Thin out as they grow ... my parsnips will then be nice and straight?
Can I do this with carrots as well?
;)
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p.s any tips on good parsip seeds? :)
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Hi Nigella, I had a brilliant crop with 'Gladiator' 2 years ago - not such a good crop with 'tender and true' last year (lots of mis-shapen roots) and am trying a new seed called 'Paragon' this year.
james :)
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I had success with Gladiator F1 which I totally forgot about and neglected. My dog found them ages after, and they were beautiful specimens, without slug holes etc
Perhaps the secret of success with them was not disturbing them at all once sown.
I sowed them at home but gave up on my veg bed as the dog kept walking on it and eating all the labels and burying his biccies in the newly sown seeds so I was amazed when he dug up buried treasure, er sorry, parsnips ;D
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I've got the opposite at our site. Having never actually grown them before (carrots were hard enough to grow in our soil and I wanted to crack growing those first!) and having received quite a lot of donations from kind fellow allotmenteers, I was able to do a taste test and see which worked best. I tried some small but nicely shaped Gladiator which had very solid cores, and an absolutely massive Tender and True which was just that. So I bought T&T seed. I shall see how it goes...
moonbells
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hmmm yummy can't wait - will try a patch of T&T and Gladiator.
See which do best in my soil.
:)
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Tulip-23
Took your advice and planted my parsnips in loo rolls in my greenhouse.
They are now germinating :D
Also had no luck with carrots but may try pot growing method or crow bar
to make large hole and then fill with compost before sowing.
Shall also try growing courgettes & pumpkins on compost heap ;)
I cannot motivate myself to do assignments when sooooo much to sow ;D
Debs
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Debs :)
Thats great to hear over your Parsnips..............mine are'nt doing Anything ??? Will have to try again...thats life
Well Done Debs
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A word of warning about all of you thinking about trying the loo roll method!
I planted mine out today - and the ones that were put in 5 weeks ago are already having their tap root showing out of the bottom of the rolls so I shall no doubt have a few distorted roots!!! The ones sown on the 5th are still ok, fortunately. So the moral is, as soon as they've germinated, plant them out!
moonbells
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I believe Moonbells If you make a small trench first then line it with sand the roots should be OK......!!
If I'm wrong 8) Someone will correct this posting and thats fine ;)
Lets know how it all pans out OK!! Mike
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I planted mine out today - and the ones that were put in 5 weeks ago are already having their tap root showing out of the bottom of the rolls so I shall no doubt have a few distorted roots!!! The ones sown on the 5th are still ok, fortunately. So the moral is, as soon as they've germinated, plant them out!
moonbells
I've tried this and found that, even with the roots well inside the tube, where the compost in the tube met the soil the roots forked , it's the change in consistency as the compost is usually easier to root in. When the tap root meets soil it looks for the easier route and meanders about a bit before heading down
Phil
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I sowed two rows of parsnips this week, direct into the ground. Must remember next year to sow when it's not windy. I'm expecting parsnips to come up all over the plot ( maybe).
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Thanks for the tip Moonbells.
Wonder if sowing into larger tube i.e. kitchen roll, would prevent this...
What experience do others have??
Debs
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Hi Diver, Yes we have some old cut off plastic drain pipes which we started using last year. As my last post, we placed them in non stony soil (you know what I mean,so they won't fork) and planted two seeds in each circle.
The cut off drain pipe is about 4-5 inches across and six inches long. I have just been outside and taken a pic of one of them. Hope it comes out okay and you can see what I mean. Good luck with them. :) busy_lizzie