September 22, 2009: In Addition to the Previous Post...

In today's earlier post, I told how the parsnips killed the lettuce seedlings. Out of curiosity, I just dug one up to see just how large they are now. Even in my loose soil, it was quite the job getting that thing out of the ground. The tops alone are over 4' high! The root wasn't as large as I though it would be, but it was pretty darned big.


It's a lot bigger then the spading fork I used to dig it out! The root is 15" long, and 10" around at its widest part.

21 comments:

  1. There is nothing I don't love about a parsnip. They are one of my ultimate fav veggies - yet they are underappreciated by the masses. I think you're in an elite group if you're a parsnip fan and the penultimate if you're a parsnip grower. Mmmm.... the nutty taste of roasted parsnips... mmm...soup...mmmm....christmas dinner.

    ........droooool

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  2. Oooooh, me too! Mr. H won't touch them, so I'll have to eat them all myself. I will share with my AZ neighbor, he loves to put them in his soup and stew. That one weighed 3/4 pound after it was trimmed down to the edible part. I have three 4' rows of them!

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  3. Well, "napkin lady" - I don't even know what they are, even though you showed me a photo....It looks like a turnip. BTW...you'll get to see my sweet tater harvest tomorrow. Yay!

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  4. EG, you mean you've never eaten a parsnip? They are a bit like carrots in taste, only I've never heard of anyone eating them raw. They are good roasted, or diced up in soups and stews. I like to slice and boil them until tender, then drain and toss them in a frying pan with lots of butter. Sprinkle them with a bit of sugar to help them caramelize, and fry them until they are golden brown. Otto (the boy dog) and I ate that entire parsnip at dinner...all 12 ounces of it! You really shouldn't dig them until after there has been a frost (they get sweeter), but I couldn't wait to see how big they were getting. These actually aren't all that large. To get giants, you can bury a length of sewer pipe and fill it with a mixture of sand, peat and compost, and they grow really long planted in that. Parsnips can also overwinter and be dug in the spring. I might just try that with a few, as I doubt I could eat all of them this fall.

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  5. It is amazing how large these plants grow! Are you going to harvest most of them when you return from Arizona? I planted a late crop of parsnip but I think they need a full season to grow. Maybe I will harvest something from them this coming spring. I'm not really sure if I like parsnips yet, I tried some from the grocery store and they were awfully bitter.

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  6. Dan, I'll probably take about half of them with me and leave half in the ground. I need to get some straw if I do that, but the strawberries would do well with some too. Garden parsnips are very sweet, especially cooked so they caramelize (see my reply to EG, above). I never buy them in the store any more. They are quite expensive, and usually old and tasteless. I planted Hollow Crown, but I've heard the newer hybrids are even better.

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  7. What kind of width does a 4' tall parsnip require? How far apart are you planting them? Sheesh.

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  8. Sheesh, Stefaneener...you expect me to remember that far back? I planted those seeds quite closely, then thinned out what the birds didn't eat so that they were about four inches apart. If I did them again, I'd thin them to six inches. I remember there were some spaces that either didn't germinate, or were pecked out by those birds, so when they were still tiny (1-2" tall) I carefully dug out the extras with a spoon and transplanted them to the bare spots. I did put some 4' stakes around the edges and ran heavy garden twine around them to coral those huge tops, but they still managed to topple over into the rest of that garden bed. I don't know what the answer is for that problem, maybe actually fence them in with 4' welded wire fencing? I'm very happy with the way they turned out, I just have to learn how to manage them so they don't take up the entire bed! Although I did have bush beans planted on both sides of them in the spring, so I got more than one crop from the bed.

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  9. Stefaneener, looking at your question again...I planted three rows down the center of a 4'x4' bed, with two rows of bush beans on each side of them. So the beans took about 1' on each side of the bed and the three rows of parsnips a 2' width out of the center. Does that make sense?

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  10. Wow that is one huge parsnip! I love them slow roasted in the oven. Yum. It is amusing that you say that parsnips taste a bit like carrots, the amount of people who ask me if my white carrots are actually parsnips, and was i just a little confused is phenomenal!!! And they taste like carrots too. Although one eater told me they tasted like parsnips. :)

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  11. We adore parsnips. In fact, my daughter has declared them her "most favorite veggie". She eats lots of veggies so that is a real compliment. I have a big patch of them growing and I checked on them the other day and it appears it will be a banner crop this year. I won't mess with them until the weather turns chill, but they are a staple of our winter garden produce - along with carrots, cabbages, kale, and swiss chard.

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  12. Wow! Great subject for a new B-grade horror flick - Attack of the Killer Parsnips!

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  13. Pru, KitsapFG and Anonymous, The parsnip is gone. My boy dog and I ate the entire root at dinner last night! Girl dog was napping and missed out, Mr. H wouldn't even taste it. It was really good, not a bit tough or fibrous.

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  14. When someone mentions parsnips, I picture a late Autumn. There's nothing like Chicken, parsnips, turnips, carrots and brussel sprouts all roasting and caramelizing together in the oven. Gran, you're gettin me hungry!

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  15. Darn it, Thomas. That sounds like an awfully good dinner for a poor granny who is still recuperating from the sickies! I do have chicken roasting in the oven, but that's for my spoiled little dogs. We're getting meatloaf ;-)

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  16. Mom, they sound good! Now you'll have to cook me one. Have I ever had one?

    Amy

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  17. Amy, probably. But I know it's been a long time since I fixed them for the family, and dad doesn't like them....so maybe not. I'll dig a couple and pre-cook them for you, then you can just fry them in butter.

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  18. I had no idea parsnip foliage grew so tall. I have not grown them due tom the loooong growing season they require, but I would love to.

    You could box out the foliage with stakes and twine, though your fence idea would probably look better.

    Great tutorial. I have done that using newspaper, I take it there is a reason you prefer napkins over other options? Is that they are thinner, and therefor don't hold up germination?

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  19. Kelly, the parsnips have 4' stakes and three rows of twine to hold them up ( http://tinyurl.com/ycm2yce ) The heavy garden twine couldn't contain them, they got so large the parsnips just made the twine snap and/or break.

    I did have better germination with the napkins than with newspaper, as it disintegrates much quicker.

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  20. The really sad thing is that I haven't had parsnips either and I'm a northerner. I should have eaten them by now. I tried to grow them one year and they didn't germinate and I never tried them again. Right now I'm thinking that is a good thing because those are huge.

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