How to Grow Parsnips

Name: Parsnips

Description:

**Closely related to the carrot except even healthier for you because it contains more fiber and potassium.

**Parsnips are easy to grow and very tasty if roasted.

**You should use fresh seeds every year.

Position:

**Sun or partial shade will work for your plant.

**It will grow on sandy, loamy soils best. Stony soils are not suitable because the roots will fork when they meet the stones.

**Spread a thin layer of well-rotted manure or compost over the ground for the plants in early spring.

Propagation:

**Sow outside in March.

**Germination rate is unreliable and often slow. Consider sowing a marker row of carrots or lettuce along the same row to remind you where they are while you wait.

**Sow ½ inch deep. Thin to 6 inches between plants when plantlings. Parsnips hate to be transplanted, so discard the thinning and do not try growing in trays/modules.

**Have 1 foot space between each row of parsnips.

Maintenance:

**Weed carefully between the rows.

**Only give them water if there is a severe drought.

**One potential problem is called ‘Parsnip Canker’, which means it goes black and rotten around the crown. Discard the affected plants and next year, lime the soil in the winter and sow a more resistant variety.

Harvesting:

**In late fall or winter after the first frost, when the foliage begins to die down, you can start harvesting.

**Lift the parsnips as required. Leave the rest in the ground until needed, or until the end of February before they start to regrow.

**You can freeze them for later use.

Companion Planting:

**Plant lettuces or spinach between parsnip rows to use the space since parsnips grow so slowly.