North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Karen Tillou <arboretum@homeorchardsociety.org>]

that's been my experience too - commercial root crops, esp. long ones like parsnips and carrots, are generally grown in VERY sandy soils, where the roots stay perfect shape, and heavy amounts of water and fertilizers need to be added, as the sand doesn't hold on to nutrients the way heavier, clay soils do.  try doing some double digging, using a broadfork to break the soils up deep down next spring, and adding lots of organic matter (every year...) to get and keep your soils light enough to grow less-alien roots. the deeper and fluffier you can get your soil, the better you'll do.  don't hurt your back.

karen tillou

oregon city, OR - zone 8a and wet

On Nov 21, 2007, at 8:20 AM, William C. Garthright wrote:

I am just digging up my first parsnip crop.  It looks more like science fiction than it does like a store parsnip.  There is a very broad (8 or 9 inch) crown which is maybe 5 inches deep and then disintegrates into a twisted mass of roots suitable for late night TV SciFi movies.  What happened?

Um,... aliens?  :-)

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I don't know, but I planted carrots this year 

(carrots! what was I thinking?) that ended up that way. But this was in 

heavy clay soil that hadn't been worked before, and it turned into a 

brick in our hot, dry summer. How is your soil there? If it's too hard, 

the root might have trouble forming a nice round shape, and just expand 

where it finds cracks and crevices.

Just an idea. I've never grown parsnips myself.

Bill

-- 

In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it 

would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples 

might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal 

time in physics classrooms. - Stephen Jay Gould

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