Parsnip

Light and exposure

The parsnip likes full sun or very light shade. Give it a well open bed, without a tree or hedge that would compete with it and starve the root of light and water. A good position gives bigger, more regular roots.

Since the crop is long, from spring to winter, choose a spot where the parsnip can stay in place for several months without getting in your way. It is a vegetable you set up and almost forget, provided you gave it light at the start.

Watering

During germination, which is slow, keep the surface of the soil cool. A seedbed that dries out compromises an already fickle emergence, so water in a fine, regular mist until the seedlings appear. This is the most delicate period of the whole crop.

Once the plants are established, the parsnip needs little water. Its long root seeks moisture deep down. Water mainly during the dry spells of summer, without excess. Irregular watering, alternating drought and heavy rain, causes the roots to split, so a moderate but steady supply is better.

Soil and repotting

This is the point that decides everything with the parsnip. It needs deep, loose, stone-free soil. The root plunges straight down, and the slightest obstacle, a stone, a hard clod or poorly rotted fresh manure, makes it fork or twist. Dig deep and crumble the soil well before sowing.

Avoid fresh manuring just before the crop, as it encourages misshapen, forked roots. Soil enriched the previous year, or well matured compost, suits better. In heavy clay soil, typical of some plots in the region, lighten it with sand and compost, or choose a short, round-rooted variety.

Temperature and humidity

The parsnip is tough in the cold, one of the hardiest vegetables in the garden. It withstands the frosts of our winters without flinching and stays perfectly edible in soil frozen at the surface. Cold does not harm it, on the contrary it improves it.

The first autumn frosts trigger the conversion of part of the starch into sugar, and this is when the parsnip is at its best. Harvested too early, before the cold, it stays blander. In Belgium, patience is rewarded: roots pulled after November are markedly sweeter.

Pruning and upkeep

The parsnip is not pruned as such, but two actions matter. The first is thinning: when the young plants have a few true leaves, keep only one plant every ten to fifteen centimetres. Plants too close together give thin roots. The second is regular weeding early on, because the parsnip emerges slowly and is quickly smothered by weeds.

A word of caution for tending the foliage. The sap and leaves of the parsnip, under the sun, can cause photodermatitis, a skin reaction that burns and reddens on combined contact with the sap and the rays. In sunny weather, handle the foliage covered up, long sleeves and gloves, especially at harvest or during heavy weeding.

Pests and diseases

The parsnip has few troubles, but two problems recur in our damp climate. The carrot fly attacks it too: its larvae dig tunnels in the root. An insect-proof mesh laid at sowing and avoiding sowing near carrots limit the damage.

On the disease side, leaf spot and powdery mildew can mark the foliage in a wet late summer, without seriously compromising the harvest. Crop rotation, not putting parsnip or carrot back in the same spot for three or four years, remains the best prevention. Slugs, for their part, watch for the young plants in spring.

Propagation

The parsnip is propagated only by direct sowing in place, because its long root tolerates transplanting poorly. Sow from April to May, in rows thirty centimetres apart, covering the seeds with half a centimetre of fine soil. Emergence takes two to four weeks, so you need patience and soil kept cool.

The detail not to neglect: parsnip seeds lose their germinating power very quickly. Always use fresh seed of the year, as a packet from last year emerges poorly or not at all. To mark the rows during the long germination, slip a few radish seeds into the furrow, they come up fast and mark the row.

Month-by-month care calendar

Green Hub tips

• Always use fresh parsnip seed of the year. An old packet emerges poorly, it is the number one cause of failure.
• Sow a few radishes in the same furrow: they come up fast and mark the row during the two to four weeks of parsnip germination.
• Do not harvest before the frosts. The cold turns the starch into sugar and makes the parsnip much better.
• Leave the roots in the ground all winter under a mulch and pull as needed: it is the best way to keep them.
• In sunny weather, handle the foliage with arms and hands covered to avoid the skin reaction caused by the sap.