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Parsnip

A long, slow root that turns sweet after frost, and repays a whole season of patience.

1. Buy fresh seed every year, parsnip seed is dead after 12 months.
2. Wait for soil at 10 C or more, cold ground just rots the seed.
3. Sow 3 seeds every 15 cm, 1.5 cm deep, in soil cleared of stones.
4. Mark the row with radish seed sown alongside, parsnips take 3 to 4 weeks to appear.
5. Thin to the strongest seedling at each station once they have two true leaves.
6. Keep weed-free all summer and water in droughts.
7. Lift from late autumn onward, ideally after the first frosts have sweetened them.

Soil

Deep, stone-free soil dug two spades down, no fresh manure, pH 6.5 to 7.0.

Sun

Full sun.

Water

15 mm a week in dry spells. Steady is the point, a downpour on dry soil splits the roots.

Spacing

15 cm apart, rows 30 cm

Depth

1.5 cm deep

Care

['Mulch 5 cm in midsummer to hold moisture and block weeds.', 'No feeding. Rich soil gives forked, hairy roots.', 'Wear long sleeves when handling the foliage in sun, parsnip sap plus sunlight can burn skin.', 'In cold zones cover the row with straw so you can still get a fork in during frozen weeks.']

Harvesting

Lift from November once frost has converted starch to sugar. Dig a deep hole beside the root and lever it sideways, do not pull the crown. Leave the rest in the ground and lift as needed.

Storing

Best stored in the ground until February. Once lifted, 4 weeks in the fridge or 3 months in damp sand at 2 C. Peeled chunks freeze well for 9 months.

Grow it next to

Lettuce and radish as row markers, peas as a previous crop. Keep away from carrots, they share the same root fly.

Problems

[{'cause': 'Old seed, or soil too cold and dry', 'fix': 'Use seed from this year and sow once the soil hits 10 C. Water the drill before sowing.', 'symptom': 'Nothing germinates'}, {'cause': 'Stones, compaction, or fresh manure', 'fix': 'Dig deep and sieve the top 30 cm, and only manure the bed the year before.', 'symptom': 'Roots forked into two or three legs'}, {'cause': 'Parsnip canker, worse in wet heavy soil', 'fix': 'Grow a resistant variety, earth up the shoulders, and improve drainage.', 'symptom': 'Brown rusty patches on the shoulders'}, {'cause': 'Celery leaf miner', 'fix': 'Pick off affected leaves. Roots usually size up fine anyway.', 'symptom': 'Leaves mined with pale winding tunnels'}, {'cause': 'Not enough cool growing months before summer heat arrives', 'fix': 'Sow in February, mulch heavily, and accept a modest crop. Parsnip is genuinely a weak crop in hot dry climates.', 'symptom': 'Small roots in a Mediterranean garden'}]

Saving your own seed

Biennial. Leave two roots to flower in year two and cut the umbels when the seed turns brown. Seed is viable for only one season, so save it every year.

Containers

Needs a barrel or pot 45 cm deep filled with sieved compost. Honestly a poor use of container space for the yield it gives.