Market Farming

[Jay Sleichter <jaysleichter AT yahoo.com>]

Thank you for all the Parsnip information.  I will be trying these this year for sure. I just have to order my seed.  How close do you put your rows?  for carrots, I put 4 rows in a 30 inch bed. I am guessing that is too close for Parsnips.

Also, what are you charging for Parsnips when you sell them?

Thanks,

Jay

maybe spring has sprung, no chances of snow here in the next 8 days!

 

Jay's Jellies, Produce and More
Clay Center, Kansas
www.jaysjellies.com
http://rvp.locallygrown.net/

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From: Pam Twin Oaks <pam AT twinoaks.org>
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 9:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Parsnips

Jay said:
"Our market is doubling its winter markets this year, we are going
from once a month to twice a month.? I am hoping that we will be able
to increase production to keep up with demand.? I am also wanting to
add Parsnips as a new product.? People keep asking about them, but no
one is growing them.
I grow great carrots, so I am hoping I can grow good parsnips too.?
Here are my questions.
When is the ideal time to plant them for fall and winter harvest?? I
have been researching and most places said end of May.
Is there a favorite variety?
I want to use my Earthway seeder to plant these, which plate works the
best, any experience?
Finally in the winter, would I be able to put these under low tunnels
to keep the ground from freezing solid, especially if I added plastic
over the row cover.? I don't want to use valuable high tunnel space
for a 120 plus day crop.
Thanks for any help.
Jay, Kansas."

Jay - we grow parsnips, and I just wrote an article about them in
Growing for Market magazine. Not sure what zone you are in. We're in
zone 7, we sow mid April. They are slow to come up, so I find it
better to wait till the soil warms a bit before sowing (but not until
we are really busy with everything else!). We mark the rows by dotting
a radish seed in the furrow (drill) every yard or so. This makes it
easier to hoe before the parsnips emerge.

Favorite varieties? Relatively few varieties of parsnips are available
in the US, and most catalogs offer only two or three.There are hollow
crown kinds which are harder to prepare for cooking unless the cook
discards the top slice - the leaves come from a hollow in the top of
the root. I dislike that, but your customers might not. There are also
flat crown kinds. Most varieties are open-pollinated (Hollow Crown,
Harris Model, Andover, Tender and True, Cobham Improved and Lancer)
while a few are hybrids (Albion, Javelin and Gladiator). People say
that hybrids are more uniform and higher yielding, but I have not
tested these claims. Whiter varieties are more prone to canker, the
main parsnip disease; Tender and True is resistant to it. All take
100–120 days to maturity, but there is no particular market for early
parsnips, so that isn’t likely to be a deciding factor. Harris Model,
Andover and Tender and True have worked well for us. Cobham Improved
is short, so the best choice for heavy soils.

I have not used an EarthWay seeder for these. We station sow by hand,
with three seeds every 3". The seeds are surrounded by a papery disk,
making them a challenge to sow on a windy day - they like to float
away!

We dig ours in late November. I think it's best to get them before the
winter solstice, or they start to get woody. Perhaps you could mulch
over top of them with straw or hay to keep the ground from freezing,
as an alternative to a low tunnels. (Assuming you don't want to dig
them before really cold weather and store them in a cellar.)
Pam, Twin Oaks, Louisa, Virginia

Pam Dawling

Author of Sustainable Market Farming, Intensive Vegetable Production
on a Few Acres
www.sustainablemarketfarming.com
www.facebook.com/SustainableMarketFarming
www.newsociety.com/Books/S/Sustainable-Market-Farming
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