Parsnips to crow about? Pix

[GrannieAnnie]

My very first edible 'Harris Model' - some will be interesting to peel !

[GrannieAnnie]

[thegreatgardener]

cool do have any straight and unforked ones.

[posie]

Well done GrannieAnnie they look yummy - I'm digging mine up tomorrow hopefully.  Although I suspect that they will be all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes - I'm just pleased I managed to grow some!  ;D

[GrannieAnnie]

Those are the only ones I pulled so far. The two on the right we just ate and they were NOT woody which was a relief and were fairly straight but nothing like the yard long ones some of you have grown! Our soil is thin. Next year I'll try to do better with soil prep. and try a different variety instead of Harris Model.  Any suggestions of which you prefer and why?

[manicscousers]

bet they tasted wonderful, strange shape or not  ;D
we did hollow crown and avonresister this year, both were really nice  :)

[Eristic]

There is really no need to peel them, just clean, cook and eat. As for varieties I grow an old variety called "The Student" but there are others equally good.

[hopalong]

Yours look pretty good to me, grannie annie. Huge ones are not necessarily as tasty. I grew parsnips for the first time this year too - White Gem and Tender and True - and they look much the same. I was careful not to sow them in a freshly manured area, but one or two of them forked.

[flossy]

  Hi Grannie Anne,

  Aint it just the best when you taste your own homegrown Parsnips !   ;D

  I love them and the smell of them you just cant get from shop ones  --  got my first
  crop from the lottie this year , as I didn't thin them out [ cant be doing with it i'm afraid ]
  got all shapes and sizes  ----   some of them were very rude !!     :o

   What's your fav --  roasted, soup, mashed, and even Parsnip chips that I have yet to try.

   Can't tell you the type I grew I'm afraid  ---   I am sooooooo bad with seed packets ,        :-[

   Enjoy'

   floss x

[star]

Very nice GA :D, you cant beat a freshly pulled and cooked parsnip. Carrots and parsnips do better on sandy soil, too much rich compost or manure makes them fork.

But I'm sure you already knew that...........forked or not they all taste the same. Yummy, yummy ;D ;D

[OllieC]

Yum! And personally I've never noticed the shape making the slightest difference to the taste! Actually that's not entirely true, F1's are generally more uniform, and selected for looks instead of taste - cardboard to fill the supermarket displays! So if you have lots of wonky ones, chances are they've been selected for something other than looks... taste, perhaps?!?!

[Suzanne]

I grow Gladiator F1, it's one of the first I grew when I first had a lottie and has a brilliant flavour, so a staple.

But I have tried others in the past grew Countess and Javelin both okay - but prefer Gladiator. I have tried Tender and True this year for the first time but haven't eaten any yet.

[OllieC]

I grow Gladiator F1, it's one of the first I grew when I first had a lottie and has a brilliant flavour, so a staple.

But I have tried others in the past grew Countess and Javelin both okay - but prefer Gladiator. I have tried Tender and True this year for the first time but haven't eaten any yet.

I've found Gladiator to be the best germinator by miles - never had any trouble. The 3 sowings of Tender & True this year were patchy to say the least!

[Sparkly]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qHKPzDEdq6c/SJ1YH_Eoj6I/AAAAAAAAAU0/rnfSJgB14mA/s1600-h/parsnip.jpg

This was gladiator. Pre-chitted in feb, started in a loo roll (in a coldframe) and transplanted into a deep bed. We will be using this technique again as haven't had much success with standard sowing.

[hopalong]

I grow Gladiator F1, it's one of the first I grew when I first had a lottie and has a brilliant flavour, so a staple.

But I have tried others in the past grew Countess and Javelin both okay - but prefer Gladiator. I have tried Tender and True this year for the first time but haven't eaten any yet.

I've found Gladiator to be the best germinator by miles - never had any trouble. The 3 sowings of Tender & True this year were patchy to say the least!

I had the same experience with Tender and True. Germination was so patchy that I did not want to thin out any of those that made it.  But those that grew to full size did very well and have tasted great so far.

[manicscousers]

got white king for next year, one thing about parsnips, with having to get new seed every year, you get to try all sorts.
saying that, I'll still be pre-germinating some of my old seed to see how i get on  ;D

[cornykev]

I have a lot of strange looking ones, I harvested a few today, I didn't thin them out so there really hard to dig out, I think mine were Avonresister and I never sowed until April.     ;D ;D ;D

[GrannieAnnie]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qHKPzDEdq6c/SJ1YH_Eoj6I/AAAAAAAAAU0/rnfSJgB14mA/s1600-h/parsnip.jpg

This was gladiator. Pre-chitted in feb, started in a loo roll (in a coldframe) and transplanted into a deep bed. We will be using this technique again as haven't had much success with standard sowing.

You must have wonderful deep soil! ( Pretty young gal also.)

[BockingBill]

Had a strugle with germination this year - think that they were Gladiator - but when Mrs BockingBill dug up our first one yesterday it weighed in at an incredible 3.5lbs in old money. All I can put it down to is that it was sown on an allotment that hadn't been dug for 20 years so there must have been a lot of nutrients stored up.

Haven't a clue what it will be like to cook but its going in the roasting tin today covered in honey.  :)

[GrannieAnnie]

Had a strugle with germination this year - think that they were Gladiator - but when Mrs BockingBill dug up our first one yesterday it weighed in at an incredible 3.5lbs in old money. All I can put it down to is that it was sown on an allotment that hadn't been dug for 20 years so there must have been a lot of nutrients stored up.

Haven't a clue what it will be like to cook but its going in the roasting tin today covered in honey.  :)

:o   3 .5 lbs...I can see I have much room for improvement before I start crowing again.