Parsnip Perfection?

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Permalink Reply by City Smallholder on October 14, 2011 at 6:25

I haven't lifted our parsnips yet (so I'm not sure about giving advice).  However, the best parsnips we ever grew were in a deep raised bed with carefully prepared (well seived) soil.  This produced a monster sized crop, just like my grandad's used to be.

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Permalink Reply by Colin Robinson on October 14, 2011 at 17:02

I gave up trying to grow them in my heavy, stony soil years ago and always grow in containers. If you click the link to my blog and scroll down to the entry 'parsnips for dinner' you'll see how I do it.

 

http://therecycledgardener.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html

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Permalink Reply by Darren Blick on October 14, 2011 at 17:31

Jan, as long as they tasted good, it doesn't matter what they looked like

However, this year I simply took my potato planter and removed the soil to the depth of it (approx 12") and filled it with normal compost

I have the straightest hugest Parsnips that every previous

The tops were huge with approx 18" length

I sowed them on my plot with 5 seeds per hole and the holes 6"-8" apart

This was when I thinned them to one, they had nothing to compete for food with and also nothing making them go skew wiff 

 

Parsnips from the allotment

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Permalink Reply by Jan Willetts on October 14, 2011 at 22:21

Thanks for the info-looks like containers/deep beds,compost are the answer rather than traditional rows in the veg bed. Will try again with new seed next year, it works for carrots so can see the merits.

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Permalink Reply by Darren Blick on October 15, 2011 at 13:53

I only plant my show Parsnips in drums, my normal eating ones are in the normal allotment soil, just spaced apart as I have written above

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