Even in the mid-18th century, parsnips were a popular and well-liked vegetable plant in Europe.Later it was ousted and replaced by potatoes and carrots.Its rediscovery and return to the kitchen are due to organic farming. Mild-tasting roots can be purchased at he alth food stores and organic greengrocers. Creamy purées, thick soups and crispy parsnip chips can even be found on the menus of many elegant restaurants.
Until recently, parsnips were represented only by varieties with a long history, such as 'Półdługi Biały' or 'White King'.Now new forms have appeared in the vegetable market, to which organic farms contributed significantly.Breeders have taken to growing old varieties, consistently changing and improving their traits.For example, the 'Aromata' parsnip has a more pronounced nutty flavor and sweeter than its starchy predecessor, but is similarly easy to handle. cultivation.
In regions with milder climates, parsnip seeds can be sown as early as March. However, sown in mid or late April, they germinate more confidently, faster and more evenly.You should pay attention to the sowing expiry date on the bag and only buy as many seeds as you can sow this year.They retain their germination capacity for a maximum of two years.
Parsnips is a low-maintenance plant. The most beautiful roots grow in deeply cultivated, sandy loam and moist soil. It is enough to enrich the growing bed with a solid dose of compost when digging.Overfeeding causes vigorous leaf development and weak roots. Fresh parsnips are firm and aromatic.In winter, the smell of parsley root and almonds becomes even stronger.The plant can be left in a bed in winter or stored in a cool and humid room.
Parsnips for your own seeds
We choose strong, well-developed plants for the seeds.Parsnips, which bloom in the first year of cultivation, are only suitable as a soup seasoning.Early flowering umbels in the second year of cultivation have enough time to produce he althy seeds with high sprouting power.
The collection of seeds should not be delayed too long, as ripe seeds easily detach from the stalks and are blown away by the wind. Seeds are best harvested when umbels are light to yellowish brown in color. We dry them for a few days, and then store them until spring in a dry, dark and cool place.
Wear a long-sleeved blouse or shirt when harvesting seeds, and wash your hands immediately after finishing work, because parsnip leaves and stalks contain phototoxic substances from the furanocoumarin group.They are activated under the influence of sunlight, causing irritation and inflammation of the skin.
Stages of vegetable development
Parsnips is a biennial plant. It belongs, like carrots, parsley and celery, to the celery (umbellate) family. It takes approximately 16 weeks from the germination of the flat round seeds to the flowering period.After early spring sowing, it takes two or three weeks for hairpin-shaped seedlings to appear on the flower bed.At this stage, young plants freeze quite easily.
Therefore, on cold spring days, it is worth covering them with agrotextile. Proper pinnate leaves develop later. Strong root development does not begin until June.In the first months after sowing, the main root is not even pencil thick.For the late autumn harvest, parsley-like roots of some varieties can reach a length of 40 cm and a considerable thickness.
In the second year of vegetation, a flower shoot grows from the root. Numerous inflorescences in the form of multi-stem umbels with golden-yellow small flowers develop on it. After flowering, the plant dies.
