Parsnip

Parsnip is a vegetable that might not sound exciting, but it's absolutely delicious in soups and stews, where it adds a sweet note. Parsnips are also great boiled and mashed up with potatoes, adding sweetness and depth to that classic dish.

For the sweetest, nuttiest flavor, allow the cream-color carrotlike roots of parsnips to mature in cool weather. Sow seeds two weeks before the average last frost date in your area. Grow parsnips in raised beds or deep, rich loamy soil to permit the long roots to develop fully.

Light:

Sun,Part Sun

Plant Type:

Vegetable

Plant Height:

6-18 inches tall

Plant Width:

6-12 inches wide

Top Varieties

---

'Andover' parsnip

Pastinaca sativa 'Andover' is a productive variety with long, cylindrical roots and a rounded crown. It has good resistance to canker. 120 days
view >

Harvest Tips

---

Expose plants to 2-4 weeks of low temperatures before harvest to build up the sugar content of the roots. In warm areas, you can harvest roots all winter. In colder regions, you can mulch the bed with several inches of straw and harvest in early spring before plants start to grow again.

Propagation

---

Seed