🥕 Parsnip

Parsnips are a classic winter root: sweet, nutty and completely hardy, so they stay in the ground until you need them. They are slow, taking most of the growing season, but need little attention once they are up.

They need a long, deep, stone-free soil to grow straight, which makes them a better choice for medium and large plots or deep raised beds than for small containers. Always sow fresh seed, as parsnip seed loses viability within a year.

Varieties to try

Gladiator (reliable F1)Tender and True (long, smooth roots)Hollow Crown (traditional, full flavour)Javelin (F1, smooth roots)

Sow from March to April once the soil has started to warm, ideally in a bed dug over deeply the previous autumn. Parsnips germinate slowly and unevenly, taking three to four weeks, and cold, wet soil rots the seed. Sow three seeds every 15 cm in drills 1–2 cm deep, then thin to the strongest seedling.

Mark the row with a quick-growing radish, as the parsnips are slow to appear and you will not want to hoe them out by accident. Do not add fresh manure, and remove stones to at least spade depth. Pre-germinating seed on damp kitchen paper for a week can speed things up, but handle the fragile roots gently.

Top tips

• Use seed from this year’s packet only.
• Sow in mid-March to April; earlier sowings often rot in cold wet soil.
• Interplant with radishes to mark the row and loosen the soil surface.
• Keep the soil surface moist, as a crust stops seedlings emerging.

Keep the bed weeded while the plants are small, then the leaves quickly shade out weeds. Water in dry spells, as uneven moisture causes splitting and forked roots. Parsnips need little feeding; too much nitrogen gives a lot of leaf and poor roots.

The main problems are carrot fly, canker (rusty-brown patches on the shoulders) and leaf miner. Resistant varieties and sowing in well-drained soil limit canker, and a barrier of fine mesh deals with carrot fly. Always wear gloves and long sleeves when handling the foliage in sun, as the sap can cause skin blistering.

Top tips

• Choose canker-resistant varieties if the disease has been a problem before.
• Wear gloves when weeding and harvesting: parsnip sap can burn skin in sunlight.
• Mulch lightly in summer to hold moisture.
• Rotate with carrots, celery and parsley, which share the same pests.

Watch out for

Parsnip cankerCarrot flyCelery leaf minerParsnip moth

Roots are ready from October, but the flavour improves after the first hard frosts, which convert starch to sugar. Water first if the soil is dry, then loosen with a fork well to the side of the row and lift the roots carefully, as long roots snap easily.

You can leave parsnips in the ground until early spring and lift them as needed. Lift any left by March, as new growth turns them woody and bitter. In very cold areas, cover the row with straw so you can dig in a freeze.

Top tips

• Always loosen the soil before pulling; do not tug by the leaves.
• Harvest after the first frosts for the sweetest roots.
• Lift all roots by early spring before they start to regrow.
• Mark the rows if you use cover, so you can find them in snow.

Roast parsnips with honey or maple syrup for a Sunday-lunch favourite, or make creamy parsnip and apple soup, mash them with butter, bake them into cakes or cut them into crisps. Younger, smaller roots can be eaten whole, while larger ones have a woody core that is worth cutting out.

Unwashed roots keep for two to three weeks in a bag in the fridge, or for several months layered in damp sand in a cool, frost-free place. Leaving them in the ground is the simplest storage of all. For the freezer, peel, slice, blanch for two minutes and freeze in portions, or freeze after roasting.

Top tips

• Cut out the woody core from large roots before cooking.
• Parboil for five minutes before roasting for crispy edges.
• Do not store alongside apples, whose ethylene turns roots bitter.
• Roast and freeze in trays for easy meal-prep.