[mjg000]

A visit to the plot yesterday showed that many leaves had been frosted overnight - parsnips and Oka in particular.  Any thoughts on whether or not to clear away the debris and await new growth on the parsnips, and what happens with the Oka?

[surbie100]

Leave the oca for 2 weeks after the frost has killed the top growth. The tubers will still be swelling - though if you've got lots of voles/mice you might want to harvest some early before they sniff them out.

[JayG]

Barring something extraordinarily mild happening with the weather, the parsnip foliage will die back until the spring - they need to be harvested before they start to regrow, but of course getting frosted is said to improve the flavour and sweetness. It's up to you whether you tidy up the dying foliage or not - I don't bother.

[cadalot]

So is that it for the parsnips? will they continue to grow?

or it is worth just harvesting them all at once?

or am I better off harvesting them as I want them over the next 3-4 months before spring.?

If I leave a couple in the ground they bolt and give me seed in the spring /summer?

[JayG]

Once the foliage has died back, that's it growth-wise until spring, barring a truly unprecedented winter which fools them into thinking it is spring (never happened here even in mild winters!)

As long as the ground isn't frozen so hard you can't get them out, it's fine to harvest them as you need them, but you need to finish them before they do start regrowing because they use some of the food stored in the roots to kick start the new leaves.

You could leave some to go on to produce seeds, but bear in mind that many popular varieties are F1, so results from saved seed could be rather unpredictable, and some folk find growing parsnips difficult enough as it is! 

[cadalot]

You could leave some to go on to produce seeds, but bear in mind that many popular varieties are F1, so results from saved seed could be rather unpredictable, and some folk find growing parsnips difficult enough as it is! 

Well with the frost the foliage has all dropped to the ground.

The parsnips are from seed that a fellow allotment holder gave me from parsnips that had gone to seed. I had tried two shop bought packs and nothing but hers were wonderful they all came up.

[JayG]

The parsnips are from seed that a fellow allotment holder gave me from parsnips that had gone to seed. I had tried two shop bought packs and nothing but hers were wonderful they all came up.

Some people say their year old parsnip seeds (which are regarded as particularly short-lived) still germinate well - others can't get even 'fresh' seed to germinate at all.

If your donated seeds were sown late because of the previous failures that could mainly account for your success - they are often sown too early to stand much of a chance unless the conditions are unusually kind (they're pretty slow out of the blocks even in quite warm conditions.)

(As for the exact meaning 'packed in year ending...' I've often wondered how sure you can be that the seeds were actually harvested the same year.  )

[Snoop]

(As for the exact meaning 'packed in year ending...' I've often wondered how sure you can be that the seeds were actually harvested the same year.  )

I've often thought the very selfsame thing.

In the years when I've had parsnips (none this year, sadly), I just dig them up as and when I need them. Sometimes there's absolutely no leaf matter left on them, but as I grow them in rows, it's not too difficult to work out roughly where they're going to be.

[Yorkie]

I always leave my parsnip leaves in place to give me an idea of where to dig!