Allotments 4 All

OK so this will be a bit of a daft question, but this year I have grown parsnips for the first time.

I know that they can stand over the winter, but am I right in assuming that the leaves die back? If so, how do you find your parsnips again so that you don't put a fork through them when digging them up!!!

Thanks in advance,

Ten x

Yes they will all die back.
I harvest from the path and just follow the row carefully to dig them up. I usually lift a few if really bad weather is forcast. Its even difficult finding the row in the snow??

Yes parsnips do die back I leave mine in the ground untill they have had at least two frosts, they seem to taste sweeter after a frost

Tenuse,  I uncover just a few mm of the very top and then they are VERY visible against the soil.  They don't green like carrots.

Iain

I find there is enough top growth remaining so that sighting the parsnips are not a big problem. The problem can be getting them out of ground like goes like ruddy concrete ...

Derekthefox :D

I mark the rows with canes and string.  Like digging for treasure!  ;D

Just put some sticks in the ground to mark the row. Actually I have got into a sort of routine of digging the parsnips in the spring and freezing the lot, after blanching. I have found that the sweetness improves dramatically when the foliage is sprouting well,  in March or April. at which point you have no difficulty finding the crop.  I presume the sweetness  is because in the roots  starch is being converted into sugars for transport to the leaves and flowers-to-be. Today we had parsnips with a roast and when we came in after a walk the parsnips smelt like cake cooking. There is a downside to this - the long stay in the ground can lead to more surface damage to the tubers - that is why I grow "Gladiator" which seems to suffer less from canker. The other organisational problem is that the crop is almost a year in the ground and means the land there can't be dug until they are gone.. not a real problem, though.

Thanks for all your tips, we only grew them as an experimental crop as they are not supposed to grow in our clay soil, tell that to the 2ft long one that I dug up at the weekend!! I never thought of something as simple as scraping the soil away from the tops, which is what I will go for this year, as we didn't plant them in proper rows.... just had some mashed with potatoes for dinner tonight and they were delish, even if unfrosted to date!

Ten x

I lost my Gladiator parsnips amongst my flowers and forgot all about them.  The dog bought me one in one night after a rummage in the garden and it was a beauty.  Not a mark on it.  So I went out the following morning and found loads  :)

He does have some uses then.

I know this is a silly question but how do you grow parsnips that are not so big. I have just lifted my parsnips and they are huge. Just one would feed me for a week.
I know I can buy mini cauliflowers and other veg , but is there a parsnip that grows only to the size of the ones in the supermarket.
I also have had the same problem with cabbages and carrots. I don't want to grow the biggest just ones that are good to eat and I can manage to eat in a few days without waste.
In desperation!!

Rosemary

Wardy. Like redclanger I was thinking exactly the same thing. I hope you gave him a treat and told him what a useful  dog he is ;D and gave him a promise that you wouldn't moan about him for a month :o

Small parsnips. Hmm.

Plant them later in the year, so they have less time to grow so huge??

Ten x

Get a few barrowloads of earth from Sellafield, use it as a fertilizer on the parsnips then they'll glow in the dark .... no problem finding them then     {:¬)#

'lancer' are advertised as 'Ideal for baby vegetables'

i am quite sure that i grew them 2 years back, but they where indistinguishable from 'avonresister' come november.

Thank you for your ideas. I think I will try 2 things.
1. Try Tenuse's idea and plant much later.
2. Look for some that are good for mini veg.
The trouble this year (my first) is that I was trying to keep them till later in the year before digging up, and I was waiting for foilage to die down, which it didn't. Thank goodness I did not wait till Christmas, I would have needed a crane to get them out. As it was I had to have a wheelbarrow to carry them to my car.

Rosemary

Storing.

"I recommend that you lift a fair proportion of the crop in November and store the roots in boxes of sand or peat in a sheltered place out of doors or in a cool shed or garage. The remainder of the crop may be left in the ground until as late as February - frost will greatly improve their flavour - but the batch you lifted will save you trying to dig up roots from hard frozen soil until it is absolutely necessary."

Percy Thrower. circa 1977     {:¬)#

Rose.mary,
I grew 'Lancer' from Sutton's 'Baby' range - £1.15 per packet

I agree with a later sowing.  My first 2 attepmts didn't germinate but my 3rd did, a good month late!  Some are huge, but I sowed thickly and didn't thin, and where there are lots, there are plenty of smaller 'butch carrot' sized roots, ideal for one!  ;D