MMMMMMMMMM Yummy!

I am going to have to do that this year!

Sierra

Wow! When did you plant the seed last year? Did you have to do anything special to protect these for the winter (we drop to -40 C here)? Can we do the same with say carrots, or beets? Yummy....Kashacres

I plant my parsnip when I put the rest of my vegetable seed in, traditionally May long weekend, but this year it may be a bit earlier???

Just passing along a couple of things that are of note with parsnips, though. People always say that they can't grow them because they won't germinate. Parsnip seed is very, very shortlived. Always buy fresh seed. Check the seed packet for a date. Also, parsnip seed is very slow to germinate. Don't worry about them. Just leave them alone and they will do fine. I usually overseed mine a bit and then thin to about 1" apart. They jostle for position as they grow. Plant a few radishes in with them, if you want to mark your row. By the time the radishes are eaten, the parsnips will be up staking claim to the space.

I've tried leaving beets and carrots and they don't overwinter at all well. I had mashed beets all through my garden last year, as a matter of fact, when I didn't get some out in time the autumn before. (Good compost, though, but messy.) As far as I know, only parsnips (probably horseradish, too, but I don't grow it) will overwinter like this. My dad used to grow so many of them, we had them every Sunday with roast beef. (Every Sunday!) That's a lot of parsnips to feed a family of five that all loved them. My mom froze them. Dad used to harvest half in the fall and half in the spring. The spring ones were always the best.

Also, Edmonton will sometimes hit -40°C. I've never had crop failure but I'm not sure whether they could take much more than that. I just let the tops naturally die down on top of them for the winter and then harvest when they just start to sprout tops again in the spring.

Shauna

Wow Shauna those are beautiful! I tried them a couple of years ago but they were tiny and hard as rocks. Germination was abundant, no problem there, but they were just horrible when I dug them up. Now that I have raised beds with good soil in better light I might try them again. I love parsnips too!

Don't try this with carrots, they might survive but won't be very tasty as they want to go to seed the second year.

Good point, Gil. They definitely like a good, loose, humousy soil, I think. One other thing I have heard is not to fertilize them (or carrots, either) with manure. It causes them to fork. I don't fertilize mine. Maybe I should. It would be interesting to see how big they got after that. But, actually, they are tastier when they are about the size these ones are. I had one last year that was about 3"+ across the shoulders and it wasn't as tasty as the others.

BTW, I just noticed that you can't see the measurement on that ruler in the second picture. They were mostly about 19" - 20" long. Although, I have to cut about 3" of that off before it is "usable".

Shauna

Mmmm, yummy-looking! Parsnip party at your house, Shauna? :)

We've done the same thing with parsnips in the past. Didn't plant any last year, but i think we will for sure this year.

Well, now, THAT might be an idea. I'm the only one that likes them in my family. Which is why I only grow a small row of them.

Has anyone ever tried them baked with turkey? I've always done them with beef, but I think they'd be really good with turkey, too. That's what I'll be doing with quite a few of them on Sunday and then the leftovers - mmmmmm....

Shauna

I loooove them in stew - beef or chicken. And of course in soup. Scotch broth soup - my fave! I bet they would be great with turkey too - with any roast. I'll come to the parsnip party whatever you cook ;0)

Yeah, ANYONE can cook and i'll go, as long as i don't have to!

I love parsnips and grew them for the first time last year. We planted them in raised beds and they grew nice and big. They were delicious! We did manage to wait for a couple of good frosts before we ate them, but they were gone looong before the first snowfall, lol :P

Try cutting them up and boiling them - half and half carrots and parsnips. Boil them until they're fairly soft and then mash them with lots of butter. Mmmmmmmm.... this recipe is a family tradition for us and we have it with almost every big holiday dinner. Goes good with turkey, roast, whatever....and makes good leftovers too.

Cindy

I guess I'll be setting lots of extra plates for Easter dinner. I've got ham, too, but I think ham would make them too salty. Just phone ahead so that I can get the house tidied up. I haven't finished the spring cleaning. I'm having far too much fun sowing seeds.

Shauna

Thanks everyone. I cannot wait to plant my parsnips row. I like to cook them in a pan with a dash of water, butter and local maple syrup. The outside gets nice and brown and carmalized.

When I want to get outside, I pop the parsnips in the oven, often with carrots and onions, sometimes potatoes. A bit of margarine, salt and garlic, then ignore them until the roast/ham/whatever is done. If you add the potatoes, your whole meal is done, and you just have to come back from the garden in time to set it on the table.

I just harvested mine today, they are absolutely huge with roots hanging off everywhere, they look like aliens! I have a box full, they don't look nice and neat like yours Shauna. I plan on making soup and there is a french recipe where you slice them up, bread them in flour and Parmigiano Reggiano and bake them, they are wonderful.

Ohhhh, that sounds wonderful. Pass that recipe on. Put it into our recipe collection on conversations. For that matter start one just for parsnips. I didn't know there were so many of us that love them.

Shauna

Hmm, interesting... reminiscent of the way my mom always cooked them... which is to slice them into about 1/4" slices (the long way, not across); parboil a bit to partially cook and tenderize; dip in beaten egg, bread with cracker crumbs, and fry in butter until crispy and golden... mmmmmm.

So, Shauna, how many people turned up to share your parsnips? Sorry i didn't make it - was busy cooking a turkey! :)

Well, I waited dinner on all of you and no one showed up! So I ate them all myself (and froze the rest). We just had oldest DS and his GF and the younger two boys and us. None of them will eat them. They don't know what they're missing.

Shauna

That's okay - more for you!

Sorry Shauna, I had to work:(

Cindy

BTW, they were terrific roasted with turkey.

Wow...You make my mouth water Shauna!

Due to a fairly cold summer last year and my plants just set there and not
wanted to grow at all it was O harvest for me.
Good for you!

Konrad

OMG! OMG! I was out digging the soil out of the vegetable garden to fill my new raised beds, and I noticed some parsnip foliage, and there were two that self-seeded from last year! Cool! I don't know if they are hard but they are way bigger than the ones I dug up last year.

Too bad there are only two.

Nice, Gil. I don't think I've ever had any self seed but they look like beauties. Perfect for supper tonight?

Shauna

Yup I ate em :0) They were great. I am definitely planting some this summer, after the peas are done I think. I guess I was just doing it wrong before.

Put them in - fresh seed ALWAYS - when you plant your other root crops. They take a long time to germinate. And then forget about them until next April. Well worth the wait.

Shauna

As I understand it, even fresh parsnip seed has poor germination - something like 50%, I read once, so plant them thickly. My dad missed digging a parsnip several years ago, so he let it go to seed.(Biennial). He's had self-seeded parsnips ever since, and some are almost 4" across, too big to actually be nice. They get a little woody at that size. After a dry spring, I've had them germinate in late June or early July when we got some decent moisture. Maybe next time that happens, I'll leave them over winter and see what I get.
Connie

Well what happened with mine, was I planted them in spring (probably May) of 2004 and let them grow all summer, and I thinned them but probably not enough. Then in 2005 I pulled up one or two to see what they were like, and they looked like a pencil, so I left the rest hoping they would grow more. (I know now that this wasn't right)

They went to seed in 2005 (biennials, of course) and I dug them up but they were hard as wood so I ended up chucking them out. I figure they must have gone to seed about the end of July. So the seedlings grew from August on, and the parsnips I pulled this week were perfect, so I thought if I could plant them in August after my peas are done I could hopefully duplicate the results.

If I were to plant them with the rest of my root crops I wouldn't have room because I just have my little raised beds now. But otherwise I'm sure you're right Shauna.