Are anyone else's parsnips growing really fast?
The green growth on mine is now 10-12" in height, they've never been that big before.
I presume I'll need to take them up soon before they get too big, though bit worried that I should wait for the frost.
Any advice?
Thanks
Joolieeee
Hi Joolieeee,
Your parsnips will happily stay in the ground all winter and only need lifting when you are ready to use. In my experience they don't keep well once lifting unless you freeze them. The frost does make them sweeter too, so it is worth waiting. It is probably all this awful rain making the top growth so luscious. ;)
T.
Thanks Tulipa
Does the growth on top relate to the growth underground do you know?
I don't want massive parsnips!
Joolieeee
I have experimented this year and are growing parsnips in my deep bed in two ways.
Half were sown in batches of 6 seeds at 9 inch spacings and thinned down to one seedling, 15 plants
The other half wer only thinned to two seedlings per sation 30 plants.
I will record the weights in due course.
By the way the top growth is prolific, like yours, interestingly the single plant tops are not as big as the double plant tops.
The single ones are the nearest in the video :-
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=N0m5Qt1ipro
I'm really pleased with mine did a sowing at totally the wrong time of year in June and with all this sun & rain they are coming along nicely. Did think I wouldn't have any this year for Christmas dinner.
Yes they do keep growing but I found mine tasted a whole lot better after the frost so I may get monsters like last year.
did some early, this is what we're eating now ;D
Last year we didn't have much luck with parsnips, this years we grew them in toilet rolls and transplanted.
Seem to have done quite well :)
http://lottieplotfour.blogspot.com/2008/08/pick-up-parsnip.html (http://lottieplotfour.blogspot.com/2008/08/pick-up-parsnip.html)
QuoteI don't want massive parsnips!
Why not? Wanting a small one is a bit like wanting 20p when you could have a quid.
We've found that the larger the 'nips are, the woodier they sometimes are and not quite as sweet in flavour. Just personal choice I suppose.
Though our crop was so dismal last year, I'm glad we've got any at all!
Parsnips do not lose their flavour or get woody because they are big, they lose their flavour and get woody because they are past their sell-by date.
Last year I had a fantastic crop of parsnips that I was digging up for months. This year I sowed the same type and the same time on a different bit of the same plot and........nothing whatsoever!
Kathryn I am the same, last year was a wonderful crop and I ended up freezing a load at the beginning of the year, plenty still in the freezer. This year I have made three sowings and have only one parsnip growing which I shall save for christmas! :( It looks very lonely on its own!
The year before was a bad one too, just depends on the weather I think.
T.
I didn't have any success with parsnips last year and the year before they had carrot fly. This year, mainly because my beds weren't ready, I have grown them in very large pots. They seem to be doing really well but I haven't pulled any yet.
My parsnips were fine last year but this year I had a small show for the first sowing I made then had to re-sow about 3 times where the original sowings were made and didn't show - mostly coming through now - yippee. ;D ;D ;D
twinkletoes
my parsnip tops are well above knee height. It is the first year I have grown them, but they do seem very lush - those that eventually germinated that is! my first sowings were very poor germination, there are gaps in the resowing, but like I said those that are growing look very good.
I don't know what is below ground yet, will dig some up at the weekend just to see.
Eristic, what do you mean when you say they go woody when past their sell by date. Is that left in the ground too long, or left around too long after picking? Thanks
Well done, ANT! You must have nice deep soil.
This year is my first serious attempt at parsnip-growing. Inevitable when one hangs around a forum with Brits.
And one starts calling them snips. ;)
They're stuck in various places in the garden to see what they'll tolerate. Some died of drought, some are knee high growing next to Brussel sprouts near a horse manured area (I know, a no no), some are puny in puny soil and some planted in a fenced area, for safety ::), have had a haircut by a groundhog, and a couple in a row smack up against a raised bed of strawberries are mostly shaded by morning glories now. Sw we'll see...
QUESTION: what is the physiological reason that frost makes them sweeter??
Quote from: GrannieAnnie on August 12, 2008, 10:22:57
Well done, ANT! You must have nice deep soil.
Thanks!! We are really pleased with them. They were planted in a raised bed probably 1 foot high. We dug the ground over and then filled the actual raised bed with general purpose compost. The seeds were pre-germinated and grown in compost-filled loo rolls and transplanted into the bed.
If any roots go woody it is because they are preparing to put up the flower stalk... the hard central core helps stop it blow over/snap off.....
Grannie the idea is that hardier plants have a higher sugar content in their cells as a form of anti-freeze.....
:)