Perishing parsnips

There is something particularly satisfying about growing parsnips. For one thing it is a bit of a challenge on the West Coast where the parsnip's requirements for a long growing season and slow germination means there is a protracted window of opportunity for the slug hoards to graze down the parsnip seedlings as they slowly germinate. A not uncommon change in late spring weather to a week or two of cold and wet can also cause the seeds to rot.

So not easy but if you give up on the idea of long tapering roots then a good stumpy crop can be achieved by starting them off in root trainers or loo roll tubes. You might not be able to enter the parsnip class at your local veg. show but you will be able to put parsnips on the table at Christmas.

At least that the goal. The last two years were fine on the growing front but harvesting at Christmas was the problem. A succession of -10c night time temperatures turned the ground solid and necessitated maximum effort with a a five foot pinch bar to prize out the prized roots. This year all was looking good and we started on our crop before the required cold weather that allegedly brings out their flavour. Apart from one cold week 2011 is ending wet and very windy so harvesting was easy. But just look at the picture.

    

One of our Christmas parsnips

In the few weeks before Christmas the last of my crop was all but destroyed, eaten by, I would guess, mice or voles or maybe the combined efforts of mice and voles. But these were not any old small mammals these were quite discerning choosing, as you can see, to eat the inside flesh and leave the skin. Fortunately they spared us just enough for Christmas and so far have not been nibbling the celeriac.

In case you are interested, the little shrub with the colourful foliage is a native of New Zealand  and goes by the name of Pseudowintera colorata. It is a little gem and should slowly grow into a decent size shrub.  Back in its native New Zealand it likes cool wet and windy places and is happy under snow. Also known as horopito and pepper tree, its leaves and bark are claimed to have medicinal properties. The specimen we have was kindly brought all the way from New Zealand by our son who lives there and is a selected variant called 'Red Leopard'. Thank you Tom.