I grow my parsnips in the garden, being a vegetable often harvested in the colder winter months, so that they are more easily accessible. Also, root vegetables like soil that doesn't have too many stones in it as the stones can damage or split the roots as they grow, and my allotment is very stoney.
Parsnips can be kept in the soil all winter till you need them, I just pulled this one up last week, and there are a couple more left over. Parsnips are sweeter after there has been a frost, so this one was a really tasty one, and it was pretty massive as well. I only planted about 20 seeds in a small patch by my herbs, but I got a healthy crop. If you want to buy the
Gladiator F1 seeds that I used, or find out how to grow your own parsnips, click
here.
I marked the row where the parsnip seeds were sown with short cut canes. Parsnip seeds are slow to germinate, so I also sowed some cut and grow salad seeds which I picked before the parsnips grew bigger and needed the room. They stayed tucked nicely between the herbs and the courgette patch till they were ready to be harvested.
In the winter the leaves die off, so it is a good idea to mark the parsnips so that you can find them. This looks like another big parsnip!
