[Goosegirl]

My parsnips germinated well from an unopened last year's packet of Countess I sowed in April but I ended up with huge ones that were all brown and nasty on the tops and were also rather woody. Am I on the right thinking path for this year to sow later, so I can get matured plants after some frost for Crimbo as I think last year's were ready far too early. My OH had to buy some - oh the shame!!!

[titch]

was the whole snip woody? or jus the core - if they were huge then the core can be woody - mine were brown on top too, just cut all that bit off and cored them - mine were also huge

not an expert tho, only second year of growing them

[DD.]

I sow in April, whilst they grow quite big the flesh is not woody. It certainly wouldn't do any harm to sow a bit later.

What a lot of folk don't realise is that parsnips are susceptible to carrot root fly. With parsnips the damage done to the root can let in canker which is far more evident than the fly itself. This is no doubt what you have on the tops of yours.

I grow mine alongside my carrots, protected by enviromesh.

And yes - core the big ones.

[Salmo]

Ignore advice about thinning to 6 inches apart. If you want smaller parsnips thin to about 3 inches.

A good tip when sowing parsnips is to put few radishes along the row, very thinly. These will come up quickly and show you where the row is so that you can run a hoe down either side. The radishes are a bonus crop, usually excellent.

[Fisherman]

I grew F1 Gladiator parsnips that have some resistance to canker which were sown on the 21st April. They were sown quite thinly and were not thinned at all. I started pulling young parsnips in early august which were delicious roasted. I still have some larger ones remaining although I can‘t get to them as they are frozen in the ground. Late in the season they got attacked by carrot root fly which then allowed canker to develop. They were still OK to use with the canker removed. I will try growing under enviromesh this year to keep the carrot fly away. Does anyone know if this severe frost will kill of carrot fly larvae / pupae if they are exposed to it?

[intraclast]

I too have grown Gladiator, for three years now sown in April.  I have always follow the instructions and thinned to 6" and have ended up with some enormous parsnips! The aren't too woody, but the eating is improved cutting the core out.  We suffered carrot root fly the first year, but since have a 3 foot high enviromesh barrier all the way around the carrot/parsnip raised bed, which seems to have done the trick.

I've got quite a few still in the ground, currently inaccessible, hope they are ok!? No idea if this cold will hit the fly or not, but I've got my fingers crossed that it will give all the nasty bugs a check.

[Salmo]

Most of the carrot fly lavae will have pupated well under the soil ready to emerge in the Spring. Any that have overwintered as lavae will probably be deep enough a avoid being frozen.

So the answer is not unless they are near the surface. You can of course make this happen by putting a fork into the soil where you have had carrots and lifting the frozen crust to expose them to the frost.

[Trillium]

I stick with plain old Hollow Crown or Harris, and I simply direct sow in early May. By fall I have lovely sweet parsnips that aren't woody at all despite being quite large. Needless to say, I do manure my parsnip patch lightly and only a few fork.

[Goosegirl]

Will try that Trillium. I covered all my raised beds in autumn with sheep manure but only plan to dig my bean and potato beds over. The others I plan to sow either my brassicas or root crops by pushing aside the manure and either sowing or transplanting. Will look at DT Brown seeds as postage is free and I don't need many seeds this year.