Parsnips and Beetroot

I'm  putting these two together in a blogpost simply because they are bed-fellows - growing side-by-side in one of my raised beds. It's actually quite difficult for me to get a photograph of one without the other...

In the photo below you can see my double row of Parsnips in a raised bed next to the Beetroot (and some pots of chillis at the left of the photo). The foliage looks nice and luxuriant, doesn't it? Be careful though, because its sap can have a very irritant effect on human skin.

Parsnips at Right; Beetroot at Left

I haven't pulled any parsnips yet because I'm saving them for later, when all the Summer veg has gone, but I did scrape away the soil from one promising specimen just to check progress.

It looks OK, but not yet very big - perhaps 2 inches at the crown. Probably very nice to eat at this size, but pulling them now would be a bit of a waste of potential since they will probably get much bigger if I leave them a bit longer.

While the Parsnips are just about to start their productive period, the Beetroot are at the end of theirs.

Looking a bit scruffy by now...

This year has been a strange year in many ways, and one thing I have noticed is that the Beetroot have grown a lot slower than normal. Mine have been in the ground since March and yet amazingly none of them are huge and woody. Lots of them are still at the perfect size:

Beetroots are a good crop to grow if you are short of space. I usually devote only half of one of my raised beds (which are 1m x 2.4m) to this veg, and that amount keeps us supplied for about 4 or 5 months. This year in particular they have matured successively - that's to say a few at a time, rather than all at once - which suits us well as we never want a lot of Beetroot at any given moment.

At the rate we are going I may have to lift the remainder mine and cook them before frosty weather arrives. Do they freeze successfully? I've never thought about that before, because the issue has never previously arisen. I've already pickled some in vinegar. Actually it was only a dozen - one large jar's worth - just to see if we like them done this way.

Maybe I'll also make some more of that lovely Beetroot Tabbouleh. Or maybe I'll roast them with chicken and apples, like Dom Franks at Belleau Kitchen suggested the other day...


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P.S. Are there any garlic fanatics out there? UK readers may be interested to hear about a competition called "The Great British Garlic Challenge", being run by the well-known Garlic Farm, based on the Isle of Wight. Details can be found on their website, a link to which is HERE.