Wednesday 13 August 2014

Large Parsnips Grown In A Grass Box From An Old Ride On Lawnmower.




According to that English band Bucks Fizz: "My Camera Never Lies."
The Parsnip is approximately twelve inches long - honest!.  It's not had any special ingredients except half a grass box full of garden soil (all stones) removed and filled up with a cheap bag of compost from Aldi.  Then we placed about 6 Parsnips seeds in the compost and waited about 28 days for them to germinate.  Then I turned on the polytunnel irrigation hose twice a day and gave the Parsnips a handful of chicken pellets and a few months later I have show Parsnips.

It's so easy to grow large Carrots and Parsnips if you give them plenty of room to stick their tap root down.  If they find manure or stones the roots fork.  I am going to sow some Spring Cabbage seed and sow some Autumn King Carrots this week.  Think I will make some ridges to get a good depth of soil.

What veg plants are you planting and sowing at the moment? picked when they are small.  I often see people in the supermarkets picking a large Swede and I think:

"That will be so tough and bland."

You can't beat homegrown vegetables , fruit and meat.  

8 comments:

  1. A handsome parsnip, tried to grow them once, about half that size.

    Stopped raining today, but turning cooler.

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  2. Very nice parsnip. If you want them sweeter this time of year just pop them in the freezer for the night to act as a pretend frost.

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  3. Definitely going to get a poly tunnel!

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  4. Hi Cumbrian. The parsnip tasted really sweet. The best thing about picking and eating fresh veg is the sugars haven't had time to turn to starches. We have some really good weather lately with the odd shower or two. Nights drawing in now and temperatures are dropping. Thanks!

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  5. Hi Kev. Didn't know about popping them in the freezer for the night. It makes sense though. Brussel Sprouts taste a lot nicer when they have been covered with a frost. Thanks!

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  6. Hi Vera. You will love your polytunnel or greenhouse. Especially on days when it's raining and you can still tend your fruit and vegetables and plants. Polytunnels get extremely warm. Temperatures of forty degrees are very common. You also have to protect your tunnel with a good fence in case of your livestock wanting to have a feast or even walk through the plastic walls of the tunnel. Thanks!

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  7. Definitely cannot beat home grown Dave.

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  8. I agree John. Think home grown is far superior to anything bought in a supermarket.

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