The first time I ever ate parsnips I used a recipe from Jamie Oliver's Naked Chef recipe book. I found them to be delicious and now enjoy them each season as they start to appear in the stores. This year is however the first year that we are attempting to grow them.

These are cool season vegetables thus their main growing season is from spring to autumn.

How to grow parsnips - planting

Parsnips are slow to germinate and to mature so you need to mix your parsnip seed with radish seed. The radishes are fast growing and will protect the slow growing parsnips. Mix together a packet of parsnip seed with a packet of radish seed. Mix in a cup of flour. Prepare your bed by marking out your sowing lines. There is however no need to dig in compost, in fact, if you do you will end up with rather distorted parsnips as, like carrots, they will grow straight and true in soil that has not been composted recently. You need to plant them apart in 30cm rows. The radishes will germinate quickly and help you with your spacing. The final spacing for parsnips is 7cm apart so you will have to thin the seedlings out once or twice after germination.

Long term care & harvesting

Slugs and snails love the tender shoots of these seedlings and you need to be diligent about protecting your seedlings. Keep well watered until germination.

To see if your parsnips are ready, about 16 weeks after sowing, scrape the sand away from the crown. If they have a decent diameter you can pull up what you need every week.

Quick Notes

When to plant: Sow seed directly in autumn and spring.

How many plants: 4 - 5 rows, 30cm apart.

How long to harvest: 16 - 20 weeks

Successive planting: Every 2 - 4 weeks