Yes, I suspect your ground is still somewhat frozen. Mine here was the other day, and today it was thawed. I dug out some REALLY nice parsnips today. I use a pitchfork, I find it damages them less than a shovel.

It unfreezes from the top down. you have ice two or three inches under, and that is holding the root tightly right now. As Dennis says, it will be gone quickly. Do harvest the seed heads of the parsnips that you will not be able to harvest in the next ten days (ready in June). Freeze the seedheads or reuse immediately.

I harvested parsnips yesterday in SE PA and they were super sweet. Maybe the reason your aren't coming out is because they are so big. I needed a shovel to get alongside the big ones and lever them up. I had one that took two hands to circle the top.

I dug some up the other day and they were very good and very long (probably 18 inches).

I just dug up the last of my parsnips today. My favorite tool for the job is an Old Hickory knife. If I had a big bed of them, it would be tedious, but for just a half dozen or so it works great.

I got them out of the ground!! They were down pretty far, but I was able to lever them out with a potato fork. Some of them are HUGE. I roasted the one I was able to get out yesterday with a little maple syrup and it was absolutely delicious. I've never tasted anything like it. I love the texture. I'm happy I actually like parsnips after waiting this long!

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Bellatrix

Those look wonderful! Good job!

So how long were your parsnips in the ground? I am in Missouri can I do the same thing you did?

"Has anyone harvested them at the normal time when the ground is not frozen - were they hard to pull up?"

I dug mine after some frosts, but before the ground froze. Having never grown them I thought that they would come up like a carrot. Boy was I wrong. The hardest one to get out I dug all around it with a peaked shovel and grabbed with both hands and when it finally let go I ended up on my butt. LOL

I roasted several oven loads, partially pureed, then froze them. They made delicious soups all winter. I, like you, LOVE them roasted.

We grow them here in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It' funny because almost none of the local folk have heard of them. But they seem to grow very well here. I started digging them, just after frost last year. Now they are beginning to sprout again. So I'm thinking of digging all the rest, except six which I'll leave to make seed, and freezing them for future consumption. Here in NE Oklahoma we can dig for all but, perhaps, two or three weeks of the winter. So it has truly been wonderful to be able to go out and get vegetables right through till now.

By the way, we've found ours to be absolutely delicious simply peeled, cubed and boiled like carrots. They are so very sweet and tender! The variety we have is called Cobham Improved Marrow.

George

They are also great fried, that was the way my children liked them the best. Goes great in any stew.