Kitchen Garden Forum

What makes parsnips end up looking like the creature from the black lagoon? I get straight and contorted next to each other in identical soil. How do commercial growers ensure perfect growth - or do they?

John, I think the commercial growers get more than their fair share of wonky ones too as anybody who saw a previous Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall documentary on food waste will remember when a massive pile of parsnips were just chopped up and dug back into the fields as “waste” because they didn’t meet supermarket standards despite still being perfectly edible. Or they are sold as pig fodder. In fact that rejection of many of the season’s crop caused that darker to go out of business.

I have similar problems. Most of mine grow straight and well formed but every so often I get a real monstrosity!

Is it really this quiet on here?

Have just dug up my remaining few parsnips to earth up somewhere else as I wanted the space for planing my elephant garlic. Every single one was a multiple tentacled multi rooted gnarled monster. This is the only time I,ve grown parsnips from self sown seed and wonder if this was a factor. Despite our stoney soil a I usually get pretty straight roots. I thought I was getting ahead of the game with the self sown seedlings this year but certainly won’t go that route again.

I can see our menus featueing a lot of potato/parsnip mash or curried parsnip & apple soup unless anybody else has some innovative suggestions for using all the gnarled bits up.

(Yes, it has been rather quiet. I think everybody has gone into hibernation!)

oldherbaceous wrote:Is it really this quiet on here?

Seems it OH, even the regular stalwarts are flagging at present.

I've not posted much as I'm struggling for time for myself at the moment

Yep everyday life has to take precedence robo.

May your struggles diminish for the very best reasons.

Perhaps were all over-doing the gardening while it's fine and collapse in the chair when we come in. I could hardly use my arms for two days after I'd cleaned the glass inside and out of both greenhouses. Im also the builder's mate and tea lady while my son re-roofs the back conservatory. I've managed to tick quite a few things off my gardening list this weekend and been for a good walk In the sunshine so am happily tired.

I can't believe it is 5th Nov & my dahlias are still flowering, I have roses in full bloom and am still harvesting raspberries! I believe there is a frost predicted for tonight so that will be the end, but the poor things need a wee rest.

Today I harvested beetroot, the biggest fennel I've ever grown, some sugar snaps I missed that got big peas, but were delish (they didn't make it home), cos lettuce, kale, leeks, pak choy, raspberries, spring onions, carrots, turnips, chard & some cabbage. My celeriac is looking good but resisted temptation as might get a bit bigger. My winter cabbages & caulies are putting on a mixed performance so I will take note of the varieties for next year & yet another year being unable to master Chinese cabbage / lettuce - they look like flea beetle holes in them but bigger, although one seems to be growing through it.

All in all better end than start!

PS: Hope all is going well Robo for a successful outcome. x

Been trying to sort out a solar lighting kit that Cook had bought for the Horse stable.....I think I have changed every single way they have said to install it....extra fuses....not all on one circuit...that sort of thing....thought that would get you all excited!!!!

I thought the only possible way that links it to gardening is, I get free horse manure.....

Think I might have left myself wide open to a few unsavoury comments there.

How big a system is it o,h on the small ones you sometimes have to pull a paper strip out from the batteries on the large ones with proper batteries you normally have to let them charge

The other thing is make sure the contacts are clean nothing like horse crap for keeping you in the dark

Another lovely autumn day today though we were 'otherwise engaged' to do any gardening! The allotment is ready for winter and it looks as if we might get a good deep frost tonight already .... It certainly froze last night.

Quite a biggish set up Robo, 50 watt solar panel, big leisure battery, proper control panel and now a fuse bank.