Hi kGarden
I use a hand Fork to gently lever out Parsnips, Garlic and Potatoes. I plant only early Potatoes. They are in raised beds planted at least 6″ deep at 12″ eachway. I plant the tubers deep in order to avoid/minimise earthing up. I have found that earthing up on my wood sided raised beds results in a lot of the compost being washed onto the surrounding paths. The downside of this method is that the crop is well anchored and doesn’t pull out easily.
Next season I plan to plant more shallow and will add temporary extensions to the bed sides when earhing up. Its a little extra work but should result in little soil disturbance when harvesting this crop.
I can’t think of any answer for the Parsnips. As with the Garlic I will continue to use the hand Fork to assist in gently levering these out. Its really minimal disturbance anyway.
Don.
