Parsnip

Pastinaca sativa

Parsnips stay in the ground from spring into winter and they taste sweeter after frost. Buy fresh seed every year, because old seed comes up poorly. Even fresh seed takes two to four weeks to appear. In sunshine the leaves can blister your skin, so wear gloves and long sleeves when you weed.

Looking after it

Water: Once settled in, they cope well with dry spells. Until then, water young plants when the weather is dry. After that, their deep roots get them through. Keep the moisture even, though, because a soaking after a drought splits the roots. Feeding: Parsnips need very little. Don't feed them. Use ground manured for an earlier crop, because fresh manure or compost makes the roots fork.

Harvest and keeping

Dig the roots from autumn, once the leaves die down, ideally after the first hard frost. The roots are long, so loosen the soil deeply with a fork first. Mark the row so you can find it in winter. The best place for them all winter is the ground. Before hard frost, dig up a few extra or cover the row with straw. Once dug, they keep 2 to 4 months in the fridge in a bag with holes in it.

What can go wrong

Canker. Rough orange-brown or black patches appear on top of the root, often where it was damaged. Grow resistant varieties. Take care not to nick the roots when you hoe.
Carrot fly. Small maggots make rusty-brown tunnels in the roots. Cover the crop with fine insect mesh. Don't sow where carrots or parsnips grew recently.
Gaps in the row. Gaps in the row come from old seed or cold, wet soil. Use fresh seed and wait for the soil to warm up. Sow a few seeds at each spot and keep the strongest.

Growing facts: RHS, UC ANR and seed-company sowing guides. Parsnip care: RHS. How many to grow: Kansas State and University of Missouri extension. pH: University of Connecticut and University of Maryland extension. Keeping: University of Missouri extension.