parsnips

[debster]

how do i know when they are ready or is it a case of checking around the top to see how big they are?

[debster]

[RSJK]

I would say to check around the top, dug some of mine at the weekend and was supprised at the size of them, they tasted great as-well.

[debster]

excellent I will do thank you

[OllieC]

I wait until the first frost... sposed to be something to do with sugar from the tops going into the roots, IIRC.

[mellor]

wait as long as you can i started taking mine in augist last year and had ran out before christmas as we couldnt get enough of them!!!

[Mrs Ava]

Mine are a winter crop, I have turnips and carrots for now.  Mine won't be pulled until Christmas Eve and then steadily throughout January and February,

[shirlton]

I wish I could be that strong willed. I think I will sow more next year and put a barbed wire fence around the ones I want for later in the year.

[saddad]

I'm with E-J but as it took so long for mine to germinate they'll need the time.
:-[

[Hot_Potato]

I think it's very tempting to just try one (or maybe two) now!

the tops of mine - I mean leaf growth - are huge and I'm just longing to taste them :P

but as they didn't all germinate, not got as many as I'd hoped for :(

[cornykev]

I'll leave mine until Winter frosts, the frost turns the starch into sugar so if you can wait that long its well worth it, Come on Shirlton and Hot Potato, after me, I can wait, I can wait, I can wait.  ;D ;D ;D

[Lauren S]

Three (different) packets of parsnip seeds and no germination, I gave up.
But today on my neighbour's lottie I saw them growing for the first time. (Warning...Ignorance Alert)...I always imagined parsnips had tops similar to carrots (Oh the shame)  :-[

Lauren

[tricia]

If I waited till we had a frost I could well wait a couple of years  ::). Here in the southwest frosts are few and far between, so I'm gonna have a go at pulling the first one on Sunday. I remember last year we had to dig down all round the plant before we could get it out. It was humongous  :o and was enough for 6 people when cut into pieces and roasted.

Tricia

[sawfish]

mines finally started growing a couple of months ago but I didn't thin them out and now they dont seem to be growing very quickly. Should I thin them out now or leave them all in and just have small parsnips but more of them?
Will they actually grow any more in size or will the fact the leaves are touching each other stop them in their tracks?

[lin]

I dig mine up around October and eke them out over the first months of winter... and they definitely do taste better when the cold weather hits.

Have dug around the tops of some of mine and they look a really good size, trouble is, not many people near my plot have been successful with germination this year ... I suppose due to all the water ... so I am hoping I don't have too many disappear in the autumn nights!
Lin

[Hot_Potato]

[quote Come on Shirlton and Hot Potato, after me, I can wait, I can wait, I can wait.  ;D ;D ;D
[/quote]

well I tried it Corny but............I gave in when I was at the plot the other day, collected lots of lovely tasty stuff and just couldn't resist trying one parsnip - 'twas a good size and yesterday I steamed it, along with other tasty things but I'm going to wait now till possibly there's a frost or they grow even bigger! ;)

[HO]

If you really do have the will-power, wait until the spring. The taste changes dramatically when the tops are shooting again, having died down over winter. If you grow enough that is best, I am sure. What is more they freeze and retain sweet flavour better at that time, and last for some years in perfect condition. I grow a double row, about twenty feet long , and thin them to about 4 inches. I  grow "Gladiator" and it is pretty crucial, above all other crops to get them in early, March or early April, and if it is dry water in the early stages. Rotten germinators too, most years.

[kt.]

I checked around the tops. Pulled some up and the circumference & length of parsnip was fine. My problem was the roots forked as I didn't expect them top grow as deep.

[Rosyred]

Do slugs eat them? My foilage is huge will they last till Christmas in the ground? Do they stop growing after a certain size?

[lin]

I have grown them for the last six years and the foliage seems to get quite big on mine anyway... leaf length about 14". Slugs never seem to bother mine, they eat everything else though.

And they last well beyond Christmas, if you can hold off from pulling them up, I was still harvesting some in March!
Lin

[Mrs Ava]

Never had any pest damage on my 'snips.  I leave them in the ground until they regrow in spring and I need to ground clear, then out come any stragglers.  They do just fine left in-situ, but mark the row as once the foliage all dies back you can forget where they are!