Maincrop carrots and parsnips

 Iwas hoping for some advice.My Royal Chanteney carrots planted on the 4th of May,and my Gladiator/Guernsey parsnips sown on the6th of May have grown really well,infact they are plenty big enough now for enjoying next winter.Can I do anything to check them ie cutting part or all of the tops off and leaving them in the ground?
I was thinking many would have had the problem over the years and would have some good suggestion to the problem.    John.

Parsnips can stay in the ground all Winter so you can dig then as you want then. You cannot control the size, just be glad they germinated and flourished. They will turn starch to sugar after the first frosts to give the true parsnip taste. If you put them closer they may not grow as big but will twist together and the roots will not grow straight.

Carrots are always a problem. Cook either complains they are too small or too big. To grow them small sow them closer together and do not thin them too much. The danger here is that if the growing season is poor you end up with lots too small.

I sow some at the usual April time and then another lot in late June/early July, they go in when the shallots are lifted. These are big enough by October to start pulling. By that time the Spring sowing will be about used up or getting eaten by slugs. The later ones will stay in the ground and keep growing most of the Winter. A prolonged spell of hard frost will freeze and spoil the crowns unless they are covered with an insulation layer such as straw.

You can lift carrots once the soil cools down and store them in sand or peat. Usually they keep OK but can get a bit dried out.