[stompy]

Can parsnips be taken when young?

I grew parsnips last year, i sowed them in loo rolls the end of Feb and planted them out with a bulb planter as soon as they had germinated (to avoid forked roots) and left to grow on until November.

By this time they were huge, around 5" accross and over 24" long, the variety was javelin if i remember rightly (must keep a diary this year)
Not sure if it's because of their size but they had a rather large core to them so there was alot of waste.

Just wondering if you can succetionally sow them and take them when not much bigger than say 2" accross?
they would be much more user friendly this size and i could harvest over a longer period as i could take them earlier?

Any thoughts why this shouldn't be done appart from the frost = flavour thingy.

Thanks

[8doubles]

Next time try Gladiator, they get huge 8"dia 24" long and the cores are not woody until the very end of the harvest when they start to go to seed.

[Trillium]

You can take them at 2" but they won't have the flavor they get when touched by frost. That's the key.

[Salmo]

Instead of spacing at 6/8 inches try at 3/4 inches. That is wide enough so that they do not tangle with their neighbours roots and the roots will not get too big for the kitchen.

Also, there in no need to sow quite so early. March/April when the soil is warm. I am not a fan of parsnips being transplanted. Sow seed thickly along the row and thin out. There is no point in saving seed for next year so you might as well sow the whole packet.

[LilacSandy]

Hi Salmo,

I sewed two packets last year and only had three parsnips out of the lot, I garden in heavy clay and because it was dry the soil capped and they could not get through, this year I have started them all in toliet rolls and paper pots and have three rows of happy little plants.

[Kristen]

this year I have started them all in toliet rolls and paper pots and have three rows of happy little plants.

Me too. Even this spring, mild as it has been, I would have struggled to get a seed-sowing tilth on my clay soil in March. This year I would have done fine in April, but that's also not guaranteed every year. So I find it much more reliable to use newspaper-pots. Last year was the first time I tried, and the plants were amazingly healthy compared to any I have every grown before.

I did get a few forkers ... this year I have planted the ones that had any sign of the tap root out of the bottom of the newspaper pot at one end of the row, and will see at the harvest next Winter if that has made any difference to the rate-of-forking. If so I will discard any that have tap-roots showing in future years.