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Help.  I have managed to grow 8 fantastic looking parsnips, which I'm chuffed with as I'd heard they can be a bugger to germinate.  I tried to pull up my first one today for our Sunday roast, and it was so huge and the root had gone down so far that I couldn't get it out.  I looked like I was trying to pull Excalibur out of the stone! ;D 
I dug around it, wiggled it, got my fingers down the sides, tried to lever it out with a trowel, and still only ended up with half of it.  I'm on a clay soil, which probably doesn't help.  How can I get them out?  I'm saving the rest for Christmas dinner, but I may have to start digging them out now if I want to do it in time. ;)

Get the fork out girl and dig deep.  ;D ;D ;D

I'm with Kev! (Not literally you understand  ;D )

Get the fork out and jump up and down, wiggle it from side-to-side then get a drain-spade and harvest 'em  ;D

Took me 15 minutes to get this one out but it was worth it!



The parsnip, not the kid!

Oh Trix and I thought we was an item.  ???    ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D   :-*

A spade-or a JCB?-Well done you. Think roast parsnip and parmesan,think curried parsnip soup

Or cut into quarter inch sticks to make parsnip 'fries' - delicious with homemade chutney or relish.

I just dig big hole down the side then wiggle it out into the hole..

Kev  ;D

Now STOP IT you little tinker!

Sounds like you are pulling teeth  ;D

Little tinker :-[ who's been telling.  :o   :-X    :'(    :-*   ;D ;D ;D

When you have dug a hole in the soil around the parsnip get a bucket of water and fill the hole. Leave it for about 10 minutes for the water to seep down around the parsnip. You should find it much easier to pull the parsnip out by this method.

Thomas

I don't use a fork for really deep roots like parsnip; it's one of the few things I use a spade for. It'll lever them out where a fork will dig the earth around the root and leave it sitting there.

Quote from: thomasb on October 28, 2007, 21:54:20
When you have dug a hole in the soil around the parsnip get a bucket of water and fill the hole. Leave it for about 10 minutes for the water to seep down around the parsnip. You should find it much easier to pull the parsnip out by this method.

Thomas

def try this method :D
marg

Quote from: theothermarg on October 29, 2007, 13:59:04

Quote from: thomasb on October 28, 2007, 21:54:20
When you have dug a hole in the soil around the parsnip get a bucket of water and fill the hole. Leave it for about 10 minutes for the water to seep down around the parsnip. You should find it much easier to pull the parsnip out by this method.

Thomas

def try this method :D
marg

me 2 :)

I'll have to try the water method then fork it out, as I don't even have a spade.  How embarrassing!  :o