Week 52+24 - Bed EX3

Week 52+21 - Bed EX3

Week 52+7 - Bed EX3

We harvested about half of the parsnip from this bed so far but none of the leeks.

The spring growth of the parsnips is proceeding quickly and we need to harvest and eat a lot of parsnip in the next few weeks.

The roots seem to have a more fibrous root system than the ones that we pulled up a few months ago. the roots seem to be sending out a new set of roots for the spring growth.

Week 52+5 - Bed EX3

All that remains of the parsnips is the dried stems of the leaves, and they could easily be forgotten about.

The leeks seem to have grown now that they are not overshadowed by the parsnip, and they are ready for harvesting.

A few of the tops of the parsnip are visible and the first new growth of leaves has started. The roots should be harvested and eaten soon before the leaves use up the store of energy and nutrients.

Week 49 - Bed EX3

The parsnip leaves have really died back in the past few weeks.

The parsnip roots are usually left in the ground until later in the winter to subject them to a few hard frosts. This causes the roots to improve in taste and become sweeter.

Week 47 - Bed EX3

The parsnip leaves are starting to droop, allowing the leeks to poke through to full sun again.

Week 40 - Bed EX3

The extent of the parsnip foliage is impressive, and it continues to shadow over many of the leeks.

We harvested one of the parsnip and found a well developed root over 30cm long and foliage almost 100cm long.

There is a bit of damage visible on the parsnip, possibly caused by carrot fly, but when cut open the damage is not very deep.

Week 38 - Bed EX3

The parsnip continue to grow ...

... and by scraping away some of the soil we can see that the roots are already quite large. These will continue to grow into the autumn and will be harvested after a few frosts.

We tried to move some of the parsnip foliage aside to give the leeks a chance.

Week 36 - Bed EX3

The parsnip have become so large that it is hard to find the row of leeks on the right side of the photo.

Week 35 - Bed EX3

The parsnip tops have grown quite large and have started to fall over onto the adjacent crops.

We pulled the last of the carrots, to give row for the leeks, which are being forced to grow in the shadow of the parsnip foliage.

Week 33 - Bed EX3 Planting

The parsnip is growing well and filling out the bed and the carrots have been mostly harvested. This was to be a winter crop of carrots, but there have been too many people eager to pull one up to eat.


Although the carrots are not completely harvested, into the empty spaces in the row we transplanted:

• Wintercrop Leek (about 20 plants) - a late, hardy variety that stands well until April, with large stems and dark green leaves

We will probably finish off the carrots in a few weeks, but we were anxious to move the leeks out of the overcrowded seedbed and transplanting them now will get them established early.

Week 31 - Bed EX3

Ten weeks after sowing, this bed is growing well ...
... with strong parsnip (top) and carrot (bottom) folliage.

The carrots are needing another thinning ...

And some of them have become quite large already. Although this bed was planted to provide some carrots for the winter month, I wonder if any will be left in the row in another month, at the rate that everyone is picking them to eat en the garden.

The parsnip are slower growing plants but have formed healthy foliage.

Week 27 - Bed EX3

The parsnip germination was a bit erratic, either that or the sowing of seeds was not very even, and this little clump of 3-4 seedlings will have to be thinned, leaving quite a bit of space on either side.

The carrots have produced a even line of healthy plants that are ready for more thinning.

Week 26 - Bed EX3

We decided to place use a fleece to cover the bed of carrots and parsnip, to keep the carrot fly from laying eggs near the roots. The larva of the carrot fly will tunnel into both roots, greatly reducing the edible yield. The fabric is held down around the edges by stones.

The small leaves can be seen through the woven fabric, which lets in air, water and most of the sunlight, but keeps out pests.

Week 25 - Bed EX3

4 week old carrots needing thinning.

A close up of parsnip seedlings just starting to emerge after 4 weeks, with seed casing still attached to some of the leaves. The sandy texture of the soil can clearly be seen.

Week 24 - Bed EX3

The carrots and parsnip have all started to sprout - we watered the carrots on the left with some ofht every limited supplies of water that we have at the allotments (we are waiting for a connection to the town supply) and the green seedlings can be seen at the far end.

Week 21 - Bed EX3 Planting

This bed was dug and worked down into a fine seedbed into which we sowed:

• Halblange White Parsnip (2 long rows) - a thick, pointed, half length root variety, which does well in shallower soils
• Danvers Half Long Carrot (south 1/3 of a long row) - a broad shouldered, short, maincrop variety
• Chantenay Red Cored Carrot (middle 1/3 of a long row) - an early maincrop variety with smooth stump roots, fine taste and texture
• Autumn King Carrot (north 1/3 of a long row) - a thick pointed half length maincrop variety which does well in shallower soils and is frost hardy