Moxie Gardener

Pure white parsnips are the sweetest.

Spring dug parsnips are so sweet and delicious it really is like finding buried treasure in your garden. Parsnips left in the ground over winter and dug as soon as the ground thaws in early spring are much sweeter than fall dug parsnips.

Found growing wild throughout southern Europe, they are thought to be a native of the Mediterranean region. Parsnips have been cultivated since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, German gardeners began to develop the parsnip, increasing both the size of the roots and their sugar content. At that time, parsnip puree was added to cakes, jams, and other confections as a sweetener before sugar cane arrived from the Americas.

Parsnips are a member of the Umbelliferae family, the same family as carrots and parsley. Pastinaca sativa is their Latin name. Parsnips are a hardy biennial that is grown as an annual.

Plant parsnips in rich, slightly heavy soil, although all well drained soils will produce a good crop. Amend or improve the soil the previous fall. Soil that is too rich can cause the roots to fork. Remove any stones or rocks as they can also cause forking. If your soil is on the acid side, add lime to increase its alkalinity.

Parsnips prefer full sun, but will also produce fairly well in light shade.

Plant parsnip seeds in mid to late spring. Because they generally have low to medium germination rates, plant at least three seeds per inch in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. Firm the soil over the seeds. Parsnips take about three weeks to germinate, so plant radish seeds right on top of your parsnip seeds. They will mark the row and by the time the parsnips germinate, the quick growing radishes will be almost ready to pick.

Once the parsnips are two inches high, thin to about 6 to 8 inches apart. Keep the seedlings well watered and remove weeds promptly. If cultivating with a hoe, use care near the plants so you don’t damage the developing roots. Mulch well to keep weeds from growing and to retain soil moisture.

Freezing temperatures cause the starch in parsnips to turn to sugar. You can begin to harvest parsnips in fall after a couple of weeks of near freezing temperatures. Leave the rest in the ground and mulch well before consistent freezing weather sets in. Mark their location with a stick or garden stake. When spring thaws come along, move the mulch aside and carefully dig them up.

Dig parsnips in spring before the tops start to grow or they will become bitter and woody. Leave a few growing to produce seeds. Plant seeds as soon as they mature, and by autumn you’ll have a crop of small to medium parsnips the perfect size for wintering over. Parsnips that have grown too large tend to turn woody and bitter.

Parsnip seeds are notorious for failing to germinate after only one year. If you save your home grown parsnip seeds to plant the following spring, plant about a dozen seeds for every inch of row. From that, enough should germinate to fill in the row at a final spacing of about six inches.

The best way to eat parsnips is roasted, with or without other root vegetables. Simply peel and cut all the vegetables in chunks of approximately the same size. Brush with good quality olive oil and sprinkle with kosher or sea salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for a half an hour or until tender.

These are a hit even with people (children!) who don’t like vegetables.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 10:49 AM and is filed under Spring, Vegetables. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.