Lifting Parsnips

Now that I am beginning to seriously contemplate preparing the garden for sowing and planting (maybe Broad Beans will go in next month...?) I decided that the last of the Parsnips ought to be lifted. I wasn't sure how many were left, because the foliage had all died down. I should have been disciplined and put in a stick or something to mark where I had got to along the row when lifting them, but I didn't, so it was a case of scrabbling around in the soil until I found the crown of one and then starting to dig. In a big allotment bed this wouldn't be an issue, I would have used a big fork and levered them out easily, but in a small raised bed you need to be careful not to disturb other plants - like my nearby chicories.

In the end I found six Parsnips, if you discount the couple of really minuscule ones that went straight in the compost-bin:

As you can see, they varied in size a lot. Two of them are borderline cases - hardly big enough to be worth using, though they WILL get used in our household! The biggest one weighed 314 grams, and the whole batch together was 733 grams. That's easily enough for two 2-person servings.

They look better when they are washed:

Of course, I'm showing them off to their best advantage there, but I have to admit that the big one got damaged during lifting. Turn it over and you see this:



Not a pretty sight! I accidentally jabbed my trowel into it, creating a deep cut. Rats! It would be the best one, wouldn't it?

Anyway, all is not lost, most of the Parsnip will be useable as long as we use it straight away. With a cut like this it would soon go bad if you tried to keep it. That photo also shows that the Parsnips have a mild case of the Canker disease, which gives them the appearance of being rusty. This is normal. Most Parsnips get it to some degree or other, unless you take special care with them because you are growing them for exhibition purposes (and even then, I don't know what that "special care" involves!). Unless the Canker is particularly severe I don't worry about it, as it is only skin-deep and is removed when peeling prior to cooking. 

Jane and I both love Parsnips, but we do not have a big repertoire of recipes that use them. Most often we eat them just plain-roasted with a bit of oil or PAM, and I can only think of another couple of dishes involving Parsnips that qualify as old favourites, namely Curried Parsnip soup and Sausages with Puy lentils and Parsnips. (Oh, and now Parsnip chips cooked in the Acti-Fry machine). They are not as versatile as Carrots, are they?