Parsnips

[donnakebab]

I was given some parsnip seeds by fellow plot holder and have been watching the lush tops growing for a while now. Have never grown them before but I understand that they take a good while to come to harvest. My questions are how do you know when they are ready to harvest? and how do you know how well they are doing without pulling one up? I know they can be left in the ground till needed but I don't want to go swanning down to my plot near to Christmas day only to find that I should have done something or other sooner.

[Two_Sheds]

same as with carrots: push aside some of the soil at the surface to see how wide the root is. Pull it at the size you think is worthwhile eating.

I pulled a 9 incher last week (self sown in my path)

[roitelet]

Don't try pulling it or you will finish up with a handful of leaves. They go down a heck of a long way so gently dig them out. They taste much better after they have been frosted so I should wait a bit. But have a look at the tops anyway.

[El Greeno]

Seperate the soil around the tops and see how big they look.
If they look 'parsnip' sized, they're fine, however they do taste better after a good frost.
I pulled one this time last year to check the progress and it was a bit small but still tasted lovely.

[gojiberry]

To early to be using parsnips yet, just leave them to carry on growing. Once the frost has been the plant will change some of the starches to sugars and the parsnip will be far sweeter. The only way to tell if you have a good parsnip is by digging it up. Scraping the soil away is no garantee as the root cold have forked and just be a short stump.

Ian