Harvesting winter veg

[Karen]

Hi Charles and everyone,

Was wondering if you have harvested all your parsnips and carrots or have you left some still in the ground when you need them?

We have just harvested a couple of parsnips and they are massive! 🙂 And was wondering if we should still leave some in the ground or just harvest them all and store them in our shed?

Will be harvesting some of the white and black salsify too…. they are looking good as well!

p/s: cant wait to receive your new book as it is expected to arrive next week!

[Stringfellow]

Mine are staying in the ground Karen, storage space at a premium here. Would like to think they stay fresher that way too but maybe Charles could provide insight there. Enjoy.

[Karen]

Hey Stringfellow,

Thanks for your input… we decided to harvest everything as we have space in our shed… they are still sitting in the wheelbarrow too..

We just wanted to be able to prepare the space for next year to plant more yacon and other veg that I am planning to experiment with.

Cant wait to get started!

[charles]

Hello Karen, nice that your parsnips are enormous!
I have harvested the half needed so far and the other half are still in the ground, improving in sweetness with any frosts.
However if it rained a lot, they would be susceptible to canker on the shoulders.
And if the rats get hungry, they gnaw the tops.
If either of those happened, I would harvest and store in crates, unwashed.
Yours will keep fine except for drying a little.
There is no rush to prepare the ground though feeding soil with compost is certainly good now.
I am behind with that from packing so many diaries: sales are very good and I hope you like yours.

[Karen]

Hello Charles,

Your diary book just arrived and love it! Makes for easy reference when to do what etc. Just read your newsletter too… looks like your new book is literally flying off the shelves… 700 books! Wow! Glad that it´s doing really well.

Have included a pic of the parsnip sitting on the wheelbarrow… Now.. the big question is knowing what to do with them!

Also, you might be interested to look into the following plants (which I dearly miss eating) that I am planning to grow next year

1) jicama (commonly used in a n Asian salad called rojak)
2) water spinach (excellent in stir fries with sambal chili)
3) winter melon (great in soups with pork ribs)
4) bitter gourd (stir fried and somewhat of an acquired taste due to it´s bitterness)
5) Asian long beans (also great as stir fry with sambal chili)

p/s: am glad too that you like the Saragossa lettuce variety, definitely my fav too, firm, crunchy and easy to pick as well.

[Karen]

Oh, have also just added and spread compost to the space that we had just harvested the parsnips. Cant wait for the new growing season!

[charles]

It’s growing well for you!
Glad you like the diary.
I think that those crops need more heat than we have in Britain: I tried bitter gourd in the hot summer of 2013 in the tunnel, grew well, then… no crop!
Perhaps the extra warmth in Berlin summers will help, but don’t go overboard with plant numbers.

[Rhys]

Charles

This thread raises the interesting question of whether there comes a time to harvest all parsnips based on a balance of:

1. Exposure to sufficient frost to enhance flavour.
2. Potential loss of flavour/firmness stored cool.
3. Development of canker remaining in the ground.
4. Allowing enough time for compost laid down after harvest to be assimilated by the soil life.

Have you any thoughts on whether, say, harvesting completely by end of January might be a good balance, whether an earlier date is beneficial or whether leaving some in the ground to eat in March is the best way to spread tasty parsnips over 4 months or so?

[Karen]

Yeah, the summers can be extremely hot here, especially in the tunnel, above 40 degrees, hence we always have the shade cloth on. Think the intensity of the sun here is really extreme.

I reckon that jicama, winter melon and bitter gourd/melon might pose a challenge. Will grow them both in the tunnel and outdoors. Fingers crossed! The water spinach and long beans shouldn’t be much of a problem. The former is considered a perennial as well and easily propagated from cuttings (i.e. just soaking into water and roots will form easily and quick).

Btw, I had also meant to say that the parsnips and salsify were all germinated using the damp paper method as suggested by bluebell or stringfellow. The seeds from the 2 plants are rather big, hence it was very easy to plant and space the germinated seeds onto moist compost on the ground as you would usually do when sowing your carrots and parsnips too. The damp paper method is definitely a viable and feasible method to consider. Just my humble opinion.

[jadeview]

Got a lot of great information here. I have decided to leave mine in the ground for sometime and then store it in the shed ( http://inthebackyard.ca/ ) later on.

[Freed]

Karen, If you have a surplus of parsnips I recommend parsnip wine. It’s easy to make, cheap and is a lovely winter warmer. My husband finds ordinary wine hard on his stomach as he previously had ulcers but he can drink the parsnip wine comfortably and it’s delicious. Of course, home-made wines can be potent so moderation is advised when enjoying it.

[Karen]

Heya Freed,

Thanks for the wine tip… only problem is that we don’t drink. We don’t know how to appreciate wine or alcoholic beverages. The hubby and I for one cant really appreciate the smell of alcohol… haha… we know we are kinda of a rare specie.

Only beverage that comes close to it is non-alcoholic beer. 🙂

[Freed]

Rare indeed but sensible and probably healthier for it. I hope you enjoy your parsnips in many other ways. We love them roasted but they’re also delicious in soup. You probably already know that. Gardeners are often good cooks too because they’re interested in the quality of their food. Bon appetit!

[Author]

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