Allotments 4 All

Quote from: fbgrifter on January 07, 2006, 09:55:49
glow>>  that's the one

Reckon your Hayfield site is a month in front of ours weather wise!

Ian
In cold hilly Buxton, but at least the snows melted this morning, back to the thread off to get some parsnips.

OK i have now dug up 1/4 of my parsnips - I have suddenly realized I have a massive glut. I have sorted them into two batches :-

those that are mishappen and when whittled down look like swedes, these will be chopped and frozen for soups and stews most of these are transplants

and the 18"+ monsters that will be stored for roasting, planted direct and thinned.

I imagine there is about 30lb+. not counting whats left in the ground (all directly sown)

Anyone got any ideas what to do with the rest, leave them in the ground or store them?

And has anyone transplanted parsnips using the newspaper pots?

Ian

I also have a glut of swedes, I'd kill for a decent carrot

If you fancy a go at wine making, then parsnips do actually make decent wine ...

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php/topic,14858.0.html

That should consume a few ...

Weather permitting I'm lifting mine tomorrow. Depending on quantity and quality they'll be assigned to the freezer or the demi-johns. :)

I really do fancy the wine making (and drinking) but haven't got the equipment, room or time, but have earmarked it for next year....however one of my friends is a big winemaker will see if I can get him to make some with my extras in return for a sample bottle or two!

cheers Derek

BTW what else makes a good wine

Rose hips. Ginger. Oranges. Pineapples. Lots of things.

Rhubarb is very good, also good as a mixer, and wines made from any fruit are pretty good ... some very simple research using google will yield dozens of ideas ...

Ummm. you are all making me very envious; still, if I mine germinate I will be enjoying a crop of yummy parsnips in a years time.

Anyone grown the variety Merlin from DT Brown? Any comments on it?

mat

Only tried growing parsnips once and didn't realise they took a while to germinate so ended up digging over and planting something else - some parsnips still grew but very twisted and small.  Have  developed a real taste for them now (albeit shop bought lately) so am planting some this year and the point of this ramble is to ask whether we should cover them as we do with carrots?  I believe that as they are members of the carrot family (?) carrot root fly like them too.

By the way, variety we have ordered is Palace F1 - anyone tried that?

Don't know Wicker. Our parsnips are just fine but our carrots were a disaster. :(

Same as grawrc - carrots ripped by carrot fly but parsnips untouched, infact parsnips weren't affected by anything even the slugs went round them.

If your soil is too shallow and you only need a few try growing in 6" tubes or just plant and let them form strange shapes, they still grow big and when cut up are just the same (with a little more wastage/compost)

Redclanger, I have had success in the past on stony soil in Stevenage with Paris Market Baron - fat round carrot you can sow in succession through the year because it grows so fast, though it might be listed as an early. Good luck with your rocks  ;D

Redclanger - try my method, outlined further up in this post. Just "dib" a 12" deep hole (I used a fence post) and fill it with compost and sand mix. Put two parsnip seeds in the top and cover with a little more compost. Do this for every individual parsnip you want to grow and you'll not have to worry about stones at all.

If you can't be bothered to do individual holes just dig a 4" wide trench and fill with compost and sand mix, the do the same.

Tony

I spoke too soon. Lifted the rest of the parsnips today and one or two had definite signs of carrot fly interference. Most were fine though. Phew. 8)