Parsnips for 25 December

Thanks again for all your replies. 

We're under a wee bit of snow at the moment but I think it's to be milder on Thursday and there should be a thaw, so maybe I'll have a chance to check them out on Saturday all going well.  First thing I think we'll do is put straw around them - after making sure we've marked where they are as a mouse or some other visitor has been grazing on the leaves.  After that, we'll be weather forecast watching and take it from there.  Surely this winter can't bring the perpetual freeze of last - then, we couldn't get carrots out of tubs, so think parsnips out of the ground would have been mission impossible.

We've never grown parsnips before, and we have had a few frosts already - and have tasted a few already and, although small and definitely no show stoppers, they were really tasty - and before this, I would always have said I didn't like parsnips!

Thanks again for all the pointers - much appreciated

Hi
Year before last I grew parsnips for the first time on heavy clay soil.  I protected them with a covering of straw and they were easy to lift when I needed them.  They'll still get a bit of frosting but won't be stuck fast in the clay.

a double layer of cheap fleece over the parsnip bed, then mark where it is with bamboo canes etc. So if it does  freeze over,or get covered in thick snow you simply lift up the fleece (even if it shreds to tatters) and the ground below will be soft enough to dig through.

I do the same with Christmas spuds too and the carrots that I have still to pull