Parsnips

I must admit we had all but given up growing parsnips in this garden. There was a time when we were almost guaranteed a decent annual crop, but the past couple of years had proved disappointing to say the least. The problem is parsnips are a biennial, that we treat as an annual. They really want to set seed in the autumn, grow vegetatively for the first year, flower, set seed in the second year and start all over again. 

We gardeners like to start them in early spring, so the roots are a good size before the onset of winter, and this is where the problems start. Parsnip seed is notoriously slow to germinate, so sowing into cold, wet soil means it often just rots; sow too late and the roots never fully develop to any sizeable quality. Added to this, the seed viability is short, often only lasting one year, so not worth saving as you would for instance, runner beans. 

In this garden, we narrowed the possible causes down to three things: 

1. Sowing into too cold soil
2. Seed viability 
3. Birds using the soil as a dust bath once we had sowed the seed (the vegetable garden is flanked on one side by a large hedge, home to seemingly hundreds of dunnocks, and hedge sparrows) 

So this year we covered the soil with cloches for a few weeks prior to sowing to warm the soil. Then the seed was watered before being covered again with cloches. Once the seed had germinated, we covered the rows with tine netting to deter the birds. It seems to have slowed the problem of poor germination at least. 

(A bed of parsnips) 

(Close up and personal) 

It's too early to tell how the roots will form but fingers are crossed for a good harvest. To us parsnips are an essential winter vegetable. Best roasted with a joint, they are something of an old fashioned vegetable that seem to be making a resurgence. 

We've tried many varieties over the years but Hollow Crown and Tender and True seem the most reliable in this garden at least. 

They are some of the hardiest of vegetables, their flavours improving with a frost - which sweetens the roots. They will happily sit in the ground all winter, although frosty ground or inclement weather might make you want to dig them up and either blanch and freeze them, or cover the soil with horticultural fleece or straw. 

Parsnips can suffer from canker - this is usually caused when the growing roots are damaged by the hoe whilst weeding, so take care weeding, or hand weed. They also suffer to a lesser extent from carrot root fly.

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