Name: Parsnip Tender and True Seeds
SKU: 242561

Parsnip Tender and True is a Heritage variety introduced in 1887, top-quality, reliable veg that consistently produces bumper crops of long wedge-shaped roots with the classic sweet parsnip taste.

Parsnip Tender and True roots are white and have a very smooth skin that is easy to clean and peel, and as most of the parsnip flavour is just beneath the skin it retains more of its lovely sweetness. Parsnips become sweeter after a cold frost as freezing turns some of the starch into more sugar.

Parsnip seed can be stubborn to germinate but our seed is 'primed' so the germination process has already been partly started in a controlled environment. This gives the seed the ability to germinate in less than ideal conditions at a higher, faster and more uniform rate. The seed is also graded to a uniform size to make it easier to handle & sow.

Top Tip:
If you have struggled with successfully growing Parsnips then it could be down to two reasons: the first is using old seeds, Parsnip seeds are only viable for a year so you must buy fresh seed, and the second reason is if you live in the North of the country and are sowing in cold wet soil, then that will hamper germination too. So here is an alternative way - sow the seeds in paper pots which are kept in a propagator at 17ºC for 7 days. 17ºC soil temperature is an ideal temperature for germinating parsnips. Then plant out the pots whether you can see any germination or not.

James Wong recommends soaking the seeds for an hour or two in a solution made by adding a teaspoon of cinnamon and a soluble aspirin to one litre of lukewarm water to increase germination rates and reduce problems with damping-off of the seedlings. Cinnamon is a natural anti-fungal and aspirin is chemically similar to a growth hormone found in many plants.

Parsnip Tender and True is relatively maintenance free & easy to look after with just a bit of careful weeding and a bit of watering if very dry, but it even copes well with drought conditions. Parsnips take up valuable space in the veg patch for a long time so help improve your soil's productivity and intercrop with fast-growing veg like radishes or lettuce sown in between the parsnip sowing stations.

These quick growers will be harvested well before the parsnips. Digging up Parsnip Tender and True is like finding buried treasure as only the shoulders can be seen from the soils surface and the parsnip roots just go on & on & on. They are great winter veg that tastes wonderful with your Sunday Roast or in a warming curried winter soup and is available fresh from your garden at a time when very little else is.

Parsnip Tender and True Vegetable Seed Information

Seed Quantity:	Approx 400 seeds per pack.
Site:	Prefer light sandy soil or well-worked fertile soil, remove stones as causes misshapen roots but do not sow on freshly manured ground as it causes forking. Grow with roots in crop rotation, but not directly after potatoes which are heavily manured.
When to Sow:	February to May.
How to Sow:	Direct sow 3-4 seeds per station every 10cm in a shallow trench 1.5cm deep. Germination can be slow - 3 weeks or longer depending on weather. (If the soil is very cold & wet delay planting - warmer light soils can be sowed in Feb/Mar, colder clay soils would benefit from an end of March sowing.) Thin to 1 parsnip seedling per station. Rows should be 30cm apart.
Care:	Little maintenance required but do weed carefully so as not to damage the neck of the parsnip.
Harvest:	September - March. Parsnips can be all dug up at once or left to be harvested as and when required.