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Growing Parsnips

Published on 9.2.2010, 12:31 PM Last Update: 7 month(s) ago by GIY Editor

Category: All Articles » Experienced GIY'ers Articles » Michael Fox on Veg and Fruit

Growing Parsnips

It is hard to believe that parsnips, at one time occupied a central place on the dinner plates of our ancestors before ever the potato arrived to our shores. Although disliked by some people, anyone who enjoys the flavour of roast parsnips around the Sunday joint will greatly value having a winter long supply of these tasty roots coming in from the garden. The sight of freshly dug parsnips is something to behold, -freshly dug and glistening white after a jet of water from the hose. They occupy relatively little space in the garden. Pound for pound, as compared to other vegetables, give a great return for the space given over.

They have no fussy storage needs-you just leave them in the ground where they grew to overwinter. They are sweeter and better flavoured once they get a touch of frost so they are better left to grow on until December. You can lift and use them as needed right up to March/April. Although not the most difficult of vegetables to grow, you can greatly increase your success with parsnips with some extra tender loving care. Parsnips are very little trouble once they get off to a good start.

How to sow:

The most common problem is patchy germination leading to poor yields. Often people automatically blame the seed, and certainly fresh seed is a necessary starting point (parsnip seed is one of the shortest lived vegetable seeds. Don’t use last years seed without testing it’s viability first by sowing some in a jam jar and putting them in the hot press.) Early sowings in ground that is too cold and damp can be disappointing. Also the tiny seedlings, once sprouted, are prone to being devoured by slugs before ever they appear above ground. Prepare the ground well in advance. Parsnips need a seedbed of fine tilth, free from stones, which has not been manured for 8-12 months. (freshly manured soil is one of the causes of “forked”roots). Rake in a fertilizer such as chicken manure pellets about two weeks before sowing.

Straightforward method:

Unless the ground has warmed up a bit in March it is probably better in Ireland to delay sowing parsnips until April. Chose a still day for sowing -parsnip seed, with its light papery husk, is renowned for blowing out of the sower’s hand! Sow seed in groups (called “stations”) of 4-5 seeds, set 6 ins apart in the row, with 12 ins between rows. Cover with ½ in of fine soil. You can also use “intercropping” with parsnips. Intercropping is when you sow a quick maturing crop such as radishes (or salad leaves) in the rows between the much slower growing parsnips. It helps to mark out the rows and is an efficient use of space. Radish seed germinates quickly and it makes weeding easier as you can then distinguish the rows of parsnips from the weeds. The radishes are harvested well before the parsnips make any size, so they do not compete with them for moisture or nutrients.

Pre-germination Method:

You can pre-germinate the seeds easily before sowing them in the ground. This is a good idea if the conditions are poor outdoors and it is especially useful for early sowings. Get a sandwich box and line it with moist (not wet) kitchen towel. Spread the seed thinly over the base and cover with another damp paper towel and place in the hotpress. Germination usually takes 7-10 days but check daily after about 6 days. Keep the paper moist by spraying with a small mister/sprayer. As soon as the seeds begin to sprout you will see tiny white shoots appearing at one end of the seed. Don’t wait for these shoots to become elongated. It is now time to sow them in the soil as above. Use a metal tweezers to lift each sprouted seed from the box and sow in stations as above.

Individual Planting Holes Method:

This is a good method when the ground is too rough, recently manured or stony for good parsnips. Variations of this method are used by people who grow fine specimens for show. Make 10-12in deep holes at the above planting distance, - 6in apart and 12in between rows, using a crow bar or big dibber. (an old spade handle with a point on it makes a suitable dibber). Fill these holes with fine compost and water each hole. This settles the compost down so add a bit more compost, before sowing 4-5 seeds per station as above.

Note:

With any of the above methods, you can improve the microclimate around the seeds by putting an upturned jam jar over each planting station (small clear plastic drinks bottles cut in half and upturned will do). Leave these in place until the seedlings are at least 2-3ins high as they will also protect from slug attacks.

If there is a prolonged dry spell water the parsnips well. Keep your parsnip bed free of weeds and there is really no bother with them after that (apart from when female members of the household go looking for their tweezers!). The foliage of the plants dies back in the winter so you may need to mark the rows with sticks before this happens. Once they start to grow leaves again it is time to use them up as they will get woody if left much longer. In case of a freeze up, some people lift a supply of parsnips regularly and leave them loosely covered by soil in a bed near the kitchen (called “heeling in”). This is a good idea especially where you have the kind of snow and frost we have had this winter!

Michael Fox is chairperson of South Dublin Allotments Association. He also runs an 8 week grow your own course for back gardeners in Terenure, Dublin-see www.plottopot.ie