[bigben]

a method that worked very well for me this year was to make holes in plot with a crowbar and fill them with a mixture of compost and grit and then set seeds in them.first time in 4 years i have had parsnips that did not look like an octopus.

I had to do the same thing this year and while it was a faff to do, it did produce good parsnips. I mixed soil, sand and compost to fill the hole. I had already started my parsnips in paper pots and was able to just drop them in and top up. I still got one or two that looked like an octopus.