Green gardening: Growing parsnips

The parsnip is a root vegetable that takes four months to mature. Because frost enhances its sweet, delicate flavour, it’s a favourite with gardeners in areas with short growing seasons and in some cases parsnips can be harvested all winter.

• Parsnip seeds are sown directly into the garden about two weeks before the date of the last expected frost.
• Sow them thickly, one centimetre (half an inch) deep, in rows 30 centimetres (12 inches) apart.
• Cover the seeds lightly with soil or with a combination of soil and sand or soil and peat moss; then tamp the soil down firmly.
• Because parsnip seeds germinate slowly, it is a good idea to sow radish seeds among them. The radishes will come up quickly and mark the row long before the parsnips sprout.
• When the parsnip seedlings are three centimetres (one inch) high, thin them to stand eight to 10 centimetres (three to four inches) apart.
• Parsnips planted in well-prepared soil do not need any fertilizing during the growing season. Once the seedlings are up and growing, mulch them with compost topped with shredded leaves to suppress weeds.
• If the soil is mulched well enough so that it does not freeze, parsnips can be left in the ground and harvested all winter. If the ground does freeze, they can be dug up the following spring. In regions where winters are mild, parsnips can be planted in the fall for use as a winter crop.
• Parsnips are raised in much the same way as carrots. The edible root may grow to a depth of 35 centimetres (14 inches), and any obstruction will cause it to fork or twist. So the soil where parsnips are to grow must be deeply spaded and raked clear of stones.

• Andover
• Harris Model
• All-America, a high-quality parsnip that matures earlier than most of the other parsnips - in about 100 days

• You can begin harvesting parsnips when the tops of the roots are about five centimetres (two inches) in diameter.
• Dig them up carefully to avoid breaking them.
• Parsnips left in the ground for spring harvesting should be taken up before the plants begin to sprout new leaves.
• Stored in a cool place, parsnips remain sweet for weeks.

Do not plant parsnips near carrots or celery, for the same pests attack all three. The chief pest is the carrot fly. To protect plants, cover them with floating row covers from seeding until harvest.