Yes, George, please tell us about growing parsnips! I have seeds, but am not sure if it should have been planted in the fall or ......Not sure how to tell when they would be ready to harvest, etc.

Does anyone know where to get parsnips in OKC? I have some British friends who are missing a Christmas tradition. So far even the farmer's market has been a bust.

Wish I had some parsnip seeds. Do you parsnips will do OK if I plant in first week February? I am in Central Virginia zone 7. I started another post about trying this with carrots.

DL

Thanks George! I'm going to get mine planted today!

The flowering umbels are indicative of the parsnip's family of origin - apiaceae. Same family as dill, fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, carrots. I bet it is pretty when in bloom and I might grow some just for the Black Swallowtail butterfly to see if they are attracted to it.

Susan

Dancinglemons, my guess is that one can plant parsnips in your location, fairly close to the time we planted them in NJ. So, whenever you can work the soil would be right.

George

I forgot to mention an important detail. When planting parsnips it is a challenge to get them at the proper spacing. Often the seed germinates sporadically. So I tend to plant more thickly than I need. Then, once the plants are up, one OUGHT to thin them to 6" apart. That is SO HARD! I often leave them squeezed together. But about now, when I'm harvesting, I WISH I had thinned! Thinned parsnips grow much larger and nicer.

George

What do they taste like, George? Like a cross between carrot and turnip is what my imagination is telling me. I might have to try some this year!

Diane

Parsnips were the "potato" of Europe before the potato was brought back from the New World, and it was considered a "staple" product in the northern Roman Empire and ancient Greece. It is rich in vitamins and minerals and you can survive on it for some time.

It can also be considered part of the "holy trinity" in French cooking, which is called Mirepoix.

Mirepoix usually in America consists of onions, celery, and carrots in a 2:1:1 proportion, and it is the basis for many most wonderful soups. Instead of onions, one can substitute shallots, which the French favor, and which have a slight garlic taste. Also, instead of carrots, use parsnips--or, better yet, use parsnips and carrots. Parsnips can also be used to make a thickened soup base like potato soup, to which beans and vegetables and bits of meat can be added. (Don't forget the mirepoix, too!). Parsnips also go great with a corned beef, onions, carrots.

I think most stores in OKC have parsnips--for sure Crest over on Douglas has them.

They're sweet, yet hard to describe. If you're not sure, I'd suggest you purchase a couple and try them before you plant any. Spademilllane gives good info!

My laptop hard drive seems to have died last night. So I may be kind of sporadic on the forum, for a bit. Will try to check e-mail, at least, once a day.

George

Thanks, George. It may not be to my liking then, at least cooked. I'm sure I'd like them raw, though. I'd try them but have never seen them in the stores around here. I'll keep my eyes out.

Sorry about your computer troubles!

Diane

Thanks for the information about parsnips. I use to love them growing up when my grandma would make them.

Ok, just to make sure I'm getting it right. You plant parsnips in OK in Jan/Feb a little thickly due to eratic germination. Thin to ~6". Provide consistent water. Then harvest the NEXT winter after frost and throughout the winter to Jan?

Andria

Andria,

Yes. You've got it all figured out.

Parsnips are about the slowest-growing and slowest-maturing vegetable I can think of. Techinically, they can be ready to harvest about 120 or so days after they sprout, but that doesn't necessarily work out well in our climate since heat can slow their growth tremendously.

If you plant them in Jan/Feb, and get sprouts in, let's say early March, then they'll grow well until about June. When that real hot weather arrives in mid- to late-June, their growth slows and almost but not quite stops. You could harvest them then if you wanted, but the flavor is better if you leave them in the ground until early to mid-winter. If you harvest them after they've been subjected to some freezing weather (and not just after the very first freeze), they'll taste a lot sweeter.

The variety George grows is about the sweetest parsnip there is. I guess there might be a modern-day hybrid with more sweetness bred into it, but if there is, I don't know about it.

I have planted them in July or August for a fall crop, but it can be difficult to get them to sprout and grow in the heat. Still, if I get summer sprouts, they'll grow slowly in the summer, pick up steam in the fall, and be sweet and ready to harvest in the winter.

I haven't grown them much in recent years because we've had so much heat and drought down here, but if you have room for them, they're well worth growing.

Dawn

I find that they are rather easy to grow, when given the conditions mentioned above. On a good year they grow quite well. But last year, well, they didn't size up very well. I think irrigation would have been very helpful. But I didn't do it last year. I have to really watch my water consumption.

George

George, Glenn and I planted a bed last Friday. The seed is old though, so I hope it comes up. I guess I dug mine too early this fall as they weren't very tasty and spoiled within a month in the frig. I'm going to keep trying until I get it right. Dorothy

Dorothy, I dropped you an e-mail.

2009 was not a good year for parsnips. I dug my first batch, just before frost, last fall; and they were hardly fit for eating. But the ones we've dug since real cold set in are great, even if they aren't as large as usual.

George

Bumping this one up, because it is time! My question is, if saving seed, will it cross with wild carrot type weeds?

Growing up in Michigan, nothing better than parsnips cooked in bacon grease. Man, I think I need to go get me a snack....

I planted parsnips in early March this year and dug them last week after the flood. We ate some today. The flavor was parsnip-like, but milder than it should have been. The parsnips were huge and several had cracked. They would probably have been better if we had dug them before all that rain had a chance to dilute the flavor and split them open.

No. Parsnips don't cross with wild carrot. They can cross with wild parsnip. But we don't have those, here in Oklahoma. So we're good! I had a couple of crop failures and just about completely lost my seed. But this year I purchased and planted Turga, another variety, and it did well. So, Lord willing, in 2016, I'll produce a LOT of seed. I'm leaving about 12 plants to make seed.

I am trying parsnips for the first time this year. I am on the edge of Zones 7b and 8a so I am not sure how they will do. Given the info in this thread, I might be a little late getting the seed planted, but I'm hoping for the best!

I suspect you'll do fine if you get them in soon. I'm about to plant mine. Good luck!

thanks ... I am going to try to plant them this afternoon.