Parsnips are closely related to carrots and parsley. But, unlike them, this plant does not have a tart and sweet taste, surpassing them at the same time in size and winter hardiness.
Instructions
Step 1
This now undeservedly forgotten root vegetable has various useful properties and is used with a great variety in cooking. It can grow on any soil, but fertile land will help grow larger fruits. Parsnips prefers a sunny place and an abundance of moisture, but without stagnation of water in the soil. The seeds of the vegetable remain viable for two years from the moment of ripening, it sprouts as long as parsley, sometimes longer.
Step 2
Since the plant is the closest relative of carrots, its root crop has the same shape - elongated and with a sharp thin tip, only its color is white or light cream. Parsnip blooms in July, its flowers are small and yellow, collected in large tassels-inflorescences. The good honey plant and the nectar from its flowers gives the honey a light fennel aroma. The flowering is very impressive: the trunks, on which the flowers are placed, reach 2.5 m in height. The seeds ripen in mid-July, outwardly they resemble parsley or dill seeds - the same small, flat, light brown. To prevent ripening seeds from being blown away by the wind, it is recommended to collect them directly from the bush as soon as they ripen.
Step 3
This plant of the celery family also cultivates varieties with a round, spherical tuber. The surface of the tuber is usually rough and uneven. The stem of all varieties is of the same type: straight, naked, with ribs and grooves, branched at the top. Specimens reaching a height of 2.5 meters are an exception rather than a rule - usually the stem height of a parsnip with flowers is 1-1.5 m. The parsnip has pinnately dissected leaves, shiny and glossy on top, covered with a soft fluff below. The shape of the leaves is oblong-ovate, the tips are obtuse, and there are rare denticles along the edge of the leaf. Stem leaves of the sessile type are basal and belong to long-petiolate ones. The inflorescence in all varieties is a complex umbrella, the flowers are always yellow with a scent reminiscent of fennel.
Step 4
The most commonly cultivated varieties of parsnip are Round, Best of All, and Student. The "round" variety refers to early maturing, its vegetation period is from 100 to 110 days. It is very unpretentious and suitable for growing in heavy soil or in soil with a small fertile layer. Its leaves are small compared to other varieties, the rosette is more spreading. The root crop is round and slightly flattened, fusiform. Easily pulled out of the ground.
The "best of all" variety is mid-early, with a growing and ripening period of 100-115 days. The root crop is usually 12-15 cm in length, up to 8 cm in diameter in the wide part. The color is white, beige, without a yellow tint. The root crop is not pulled out without digging, since it is completely immersed in the ground.
Variety "student" - late maturing, but the most productive and most widespread. The period from sowing to ripening lasts 145-155 days. The leaves are larger than those of other varieties, and the root rosette is erect, which is its hallmark. The root crop is white or ivory, has a cone-shaped, gradually thinning downward shape, its length can reach 30 cm.
