After enjoying a wonderful dinner of roasted parsnips, mixed with other root vegetables, we’ve decided that it is now our mission, at least for this month’s newsletter, to promote this wonderful vegetable.
Roasted Parsnips with Other Root Crops
Michael Schael, potter, gardener and friend, stopped by and gave us about a dozen of these roots that he had recently dug from his garden. Since Noel never got around to getting parsnips started last year, we were very happy to have a friend who likes to share.
Harvested Parsnips
Parsnips can be grown like carrots and prefer similarly loose soil. However, parsnips have a lot longer growing season than carrots and taste much better after the first or second frost. The frost really sweetens them up.
They may also be left in the ground over the winter and harvested as soon as the snow melts in the spring. This year, Michael didn’t cover the overwintered parsnips, but the snow itself provided them with an insulating blanket. Noel uses straw to cover his. For spring harvest, it is important to dig them up early, before they start to grow again or the roots will become woody.
Parsnips in Ground
It’s too late for me to plant them this year in my Austin garden, but Noel will be putting in a large crop in Wisconsin in late April or May.