Parsnips but not as you know them!

[VolesAteMyPeas]

Went down today to dig my first parsnips and got a bit of a surprise! They're behemoths. Honestly. I have never seen parsnips so big. The soil is really wet and clay so most snapped a little but thank god for that- there's only so much parsnip a family of three can eat. This isn't the biggest- I donated that to my mum. But it's the most complete. And they're all like this. I have five more rows to go!
Tender and True have done me well.

[WilliamD]

Ha! Excellent! You'll get a load of parsnip chips for delicious roasting out of each one of those. That's if anyone can still stand another roast at this stage ... Although they should keep well, and will taste even better after a bit more of this frosty weather.

[WendyC]

I have harvested two parsnips so far this year. The first one weighed in at 6lb 7 oz and the second a baby at 4lb 5oz. The variety was "The Student", not grown them before or done anything different in growing techniques. Have photo but not in the right place!

[VolesAteMyPeas]

I'm supposing it's due to the long growing season they've had. Planted in April/ May and they still haven't died back. The mild conditions we've had are exceptional...I also got two globe artichokes today. Globe not Jerusalem. Everything's confused! One blackcurrant bush has yet to shed its leaves.

[Knight of Albion]

Good for you! It has been an excellent year for parsnips.

[Knight of Albion]

The only downside is there has been a glut of them in the supermarkets. My local Tescos had crate loads to shift. They had them down to 15p a bag (4 or so in a bag). This was in the morning.
A great year for sprouts too. They were 10p for a 500g bag (top quality). If you'd gone back n the evening I'm told they were down to 2p a bag!

[Bren In Pots]

That's a good size
I love parsnips theres lots of ways to use them one of my favourites in with Jerusalem artichokes in a gratin.

[porterlizz]

Two years ago I took on a new allotment and was inundated with parsnips. Last year, I moved them along by about 6 feet (onto ground that didn't have anything growing on it the previous year) and didn't get a single parsnip. I'm now debating on moving them along a bit further, or growing again in the patch from two years ago.

Can anyone advise on this? I guess it could be the weather, but I wondered if there was any good preparation i could be doing prior to planting this year - to increase my chances of success?

[Kristen]

didn't get a single parsnip

Seed didn't germinate? or plants grew and made no root? or died before making a root?

Parsnip seed loses its viability quickly, so best to buy fresh seed each year, rather than keeping old seed (ditto carrots, most everything else will be good for a couple of years, or more).

Sowing when the soil is cold and wet can prevent germination too. If they don't appear then sow some more (perhaps slightly alongside the original sowing, in case they are actually "Busy germinating" ) 3 weeks later.

[hamamelis]

I had a similar thing, last year (and the year before, come to that), my parsnips were great- big, no woody core, tasty.. I got decent germination this year, and they looked to be growing OK, so I told my family I'd bring some up for Christmas dinner.

When I dug them up, they were tiny- edible, but small carrot size. I did exactly the same as the previous year, but they'd been moved along to a new patch, a few feet away. I'd checked a few tops for size, which looked decent, but the 'big' ones turned out to be forky messes, with no root thick enough to be worth using.

Everyone else seemed to have a great year for them. *shrug*

[Mikey]

Parsnips need to be planted out as seed not potted on, as the seed creates a very fine vertical root which doesn't take kindly to being moved. Also the ground needs to be well dug, free draining and have no restriction.

I grew mine last year in a very deep v shaped trench which was a good spade and a 1/2 deep, about 12 inches wide at the top and filled with fine very well rotted manure (8-10 years old) mixed with some sharp sand. BM gave me some Parsnip tape last year which he made, this germinated beautifully and produced fantastic roots which were long and true.

My soil is heavy clay and parsnips don't like it, it takes too much effort to create a root so you end up with a ball and lots of spindly side shoots.

The deep V worked a treat, they were quite late going in too, Mid May.

[hamamelis]

If that was a reply to me, I don't mean I moved the parsnips themselves, I mean I was using the next bed over as a roots bed. Bad wording.

[ash25]

That looks a nice hefty Parsnip. I've never grown them before but I'm going to give them a go this year above ground in some barrels.

Read somewhere the other day that the best way to start them off is in some moist kitchen roll on the window for a week or so until the seed splits, and then get planted out, so will try that and let you know how I get on.

The variety I've bought is Dutchess F1 hybrid? Not sure if they are any good but were recommended to me by an avid grower.

[Stan79]

I have grown them succesfully for the past two years by planting in compost in toilet rolls inside and as soon as you see it sprouting whip it outside and plant before the root pops out of the bottom.

I like Mikey's v-trench idea.

I'm toying with using longer loo rolls to get them more established before planting out and think i will try Mikey's trench as well. Had some great, super sized parsnips last year and this but get the occasional alien shaped thing with lots of roots. Soil is quite clay-ey in places so figuring that they get blocked at some point and go searching elsewhere.

The parsnips i've planted straight out in the past didn't germinate at all... presumably too cold.

Longest parsnip last year was over 70cm

[ash25]

I have grown them succesfully for the past two years by planting in compost in toilet rolls inside and as soon as you see it sprouting whip it outside and plant before the root pops out of the bottom.

I like Mikey's v-trench idea.

I'm toying with using longer loo rolls to get them more established before planting out and think i will try Mikey's trench as well. Had some great, super sized parsnips last year and this but get the occasional alien shaped thing with lots of roots. Soil is quite clay-ey in places so figuring that they get blocked at some point and go searching elsewhere.

The parsnips i've planted straight out in the past didn't germinate at all... presumably too cold.

Longest parsnip last year was over 70cm

Thats a good idea. In fact I might buy some 32mm or 40mm waste pipe, cut that into 0.5m lengths and give them a flying start before getting them outside \o/