How to Grow Parsnips ParsnipsParsnips, Pastinaca sativa, belong to the Apiaceae family of plants, which includes other commonly grown vegetables and herbs such as carrots, celery, anise, coriander, dill, fennel, lovage, parsley, angelica, caraway, cumin, and more. The Pastinaca genus includes 13 other species of plants, but the parsnip is the most well-known. Parsnips resemble white carrots but often grow bigger, although they can get woody if allowed to grow too big. Like carrots, parsnips become sweeter following a few weeks of cold temperatures, and most people prefer them this way. Parsnips are very cold-hardy, and I have harvested parsnips that were overwintered in central Wisconsin, zone 4, that were still delicious. In rare cases, parsnip foliage can cause a rash, sometimes severe, due to its phototoxicity, so it is recommended to wear long sleeves, long pants, and gloves, particularly on sunny days, and wash after any contact with the leaves. Parsnips are biennial, meaning they will set seed in their second year of growth after overwintering for a season. Unless you are saving seeds, you would grow them like an annual or harvest them in early spring of the following year, before they produce seeds. Parsnips are often roasted or steamed and served with butter. They can also be mashed and served like mashed potatoes or mixed with potatoes. My favorite way to eat parsnips is roasted with other root vegetables and served with balsamic vinegar drizzled over them. Parsnips have a sweet, nutty flavor and are higher in fiber and lower in carbohydrates than potatoes. Parsnip VarietiesI have grown “Hollow Crown” parsnips for years, an open-pollinated, heirloom variety. Except for one year when root rot took over, likely caused by a fungus that causes parsnip canker, I have had great success with this variety. In the summer of 2024, we had record-breaking rains, but since I grew my parsnips in raised beds, the water drained well and I had the biggest parsnips I had ever grown, some reaching 4 inches or more across at the top of their root, which honestly made them a little woody. This year I am trying the “Harris Model” parsnip variety, also open-pollinated, in addition to “Hollow Crown”. “White Spear” and “Andover” are two more open-pollinated varieties that are commonly available. Parsnips have mostly performed well for me in the garden, so I have never felt the need to try hybrid varieties but F1 hybrid options include “Albion”, “Dagger”, “Javelin”, “Panorama”, and “Warrior”. “Warrior” has some resistance to canker and “Javelin” has high resistance, so they are good varieties if you consistently have root rot in your parsnips.  "Hollow Crown" variety of parsnip. How to Grow ParsnipsParsnips require a long growing season; many varieties take up to 120 days. However, they store extremely well either in the ground over winter or in the refrigerator. Parsnip seeds can be difficult to germinate, and it is recommended to soak seeds for 24 hours before sowing. Be sure to keep the soil moist until germination occurs, which can take up to 4 weeks. Parsnip seeds are one of the few types of seeds that do not maintain their germination ability for long so it is recommended that you buy new seeds every year. Once germinated, thinning and weeding are recommended but otherwise, they are very low maintenance. Weeding is also minimal once the foliage grows and shades the area. Like carrots, parsnips require loose soil without rocks or hard clumps of soil, as these can cause forking in the roots. They prefer full sun but can tolerate some shade. I prefer to plant my parsnips in a raised bed to provide a deep, loose, fertile soil in which to grow them. Ideally, you should work the soil to a depth of 2 feet, but I generally do not get any deeper than 12 inches. Although you want fertile soil, you do not want too much nitrogen, or the plants will focus on vegetative growth (the tops will grow too much) and not grow very big roots. Although parsnips can tolerate cold weather the seeds will germinate best if the soil is at least 50-60°F. A cheap soil thermometer is very helpful when deciding when to plant spring crops. Plant the seeds about ½ inch deep and keep them moist until germination occurs (this can take a long time, up to a month!). You can also soak the seeds in water overnight or up to 24 hours before planting to increase germination speed. The recommendation is to plant parsnips in rows, 18-24 inches apart but in my raised beds I grow plants in blocks. I thin my parsnips to 2-4 inches apart (clipping them with scissors is preferable to pulling), and if the soil is fertile enough, I get very large roots, even with close spacing and no rows. Reduce watering as you approach harvest to prevent root cracking and splitting. In the summer of 2024, we had massive amounts of rain, and although the roots grew the largest I have ever seen, they also split more than usual. Ideally, harvest after at least a couple of weeks of cold weather for optimal flavor. You can also mulch well to overwinter the roots. If you do overwinter, you will want to harvest early before new growth starts and they go to seed, making the roots woody. References and Resources
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Elderberry Wine Finished elderberry wine is more red than traditional grape wine. ElderberriesTwo different species of elderberries are native to the United States. It is the black elderberry (Sambucus nigra), which is edible and used to make wine. Elderberries are large bushes that are easy to grow. If you do not have room to grow elderberries, you can buy them, usually dried. If you would like to learn more about elderberries, please see my previous article. Elderberry WineElderberry wine is one of the few fruit wines that is as good as wine made from grapes. Although I have made wine from other fruits, and they can be great for everyday consumption, most fruits do not make amazing wine. Although this is a fairly straightforward recipe, if you are new to fermenting, I recommend checking out my blog post on “The Basics of Fermenting Wine,” and feel free to message me with any questions. Steam Juicing ElderberriesThe first step in making fruit wine is to break open the fruit to release the juice for fermentation. Softer fruit is relatively easy to crush with a handheld potato masher, wooden spoon, or even a sauerkraut pounder. More firm fruit like apples or Aronia berries or very tiny fruit like elderberries can be difficult to crush. In these cases, I often use a steam juicer to heat the berries, which breaks open the fruit and releases the juice. This also releases the color from the skins into the juice so when you ferment there is no need to worry about punching down the skins to get good color extraction. I also like to cook elderberries to inactivate the residual cyanogenic glycoside in the berries. However, many people do not cook elderberries before fermenting them. Ripe elderberries have fewer toxic compounds than unripe berries, so if you choose not to heat your elderberries make sure you get out as many unripe berries and stem pieces as possible. If you do not want to heat your elderberries but instead ferment them raw, you can freeze-thaw them, which will help break open the berries to release the juice. To steam juice, you add the fruit to the top colander-type compartment. Add water to the bottom of the juicer and start heating the fruit. Once the fruit softens and starts releasing the juice, it will flow into the middle compartment of the juicer and out of the attached tube. I collect the juice in half-gallon jars. Most juicing takes 1-2 hours to complete. Ensure that water remains in the bottom pan the entire time to avoid warping the pan. Stirring or pressing the fruit is not recommended since it can add small amounts of pulp or seeds to the juice, making it cloudy. If I plan to ferment the juice into wine, I do not care about cloudy juice since it will be clarified as it ages. Therefore, I usually stir the pulp or scoop it out, mix the pulp with a little water, and crush it with a potato masher or spoon a second time to release more color and juice. I then add the pulp and water back to the top of the juicer and let the steam extract a little more juice. This will add water to the juice, but I usually add a little water to my fruit wines anyway. The general rule of thumb is 3-5 pounds of fruit per gallon of wine, although there is nothing wrong with using 100% juice, as it will make a more flavorful wine. Once you have extracted as much juice as possible, let the juice cool (I put the jar in cool water in the sink to cool it down faster, being careful not to crack the jar) before starting your fermentation. You can also refrigerate or freeze the juice to ferment later. Elderberries before removing stems (left), elderberries after cleaning (center), and elderberry-Marquette grape juice ready to ferment (right). Making Elderberry Wine In the fall of 2024, we juiced almost 15 pounds of elderberries and collected nearly 2 gallons of juice. We used the juice to make a 3-gallon batch of wine. The starting pH was 4.15 and Brix (percent sugar) was 5.8. I added sugar (~1 gram of sugar per 100 grams of juice will raise the Brix by 1%) to get a final Brix of 23.4 which should give an alcohol content of ~12.8% (multiply the Brix by 0.55 to get a rough alcohol percentage). I also adjusted the pH to 3.51 which is more in line with red wine (pH of 3.3-3.6 is recommended). A lower pH will increase the wine's stability and storage time. The total acidity (TA) measured 6.0 g/L. My recipe is below:
I did not add a Campden tablet since the juice was sterilized from steam juicing, but if you add one, wait 24 hours before pitching your yeast. I used Lalvin Bourgovin RC212 yeast, which works well for me. This yeast is typically used to ferment red wines, has an alcohol tolerance of up to 16%, and ferments at 64°-86°F. Other yeast options include Red Star Premier Rouge (64°-86°F; 14% alcohol tolerance) or Lalvin EC-1118 (50°-86°F; 18% alcohol tolerance). I fermented the juice in a 5-gallon bucket with an airlock. The airlock started bubbling the next day and continued to bubble for about 2 weeks, indicating fermentation was occurring. If you do not see bubbling, it is likely that there is a leak in your lid, if you see bubbles rise to the surface when stirring the wine, fermentation is likely occurring. After a few days, I added Fermaid O nutrient to boost fermentation. When fermentation slowed, I racked the wine into a 3-gallon glass carboy. The pH was 3.45. After racking, I added 1.5 Campden tablets. I racked again a month later. The pH was 3.56, the TA was 8.5 g/L, and the sulfites were low, so I added 2 more Campden tablets. I also added 50 grams of medium toast French oak cubes. The recommendation from the oak cube manufacturer is to oak for 3-4 months. I will rack approximately every three months and bottle after about 1 year. In previous years, my elderberry wine had a floral aroma, similar to elderflower liqueur. This year I changed the fermentation ingredients and once the aging is complete, I hope to compare my 2023 wine with my 2024 wine to see if the changes improved the wine and also see how both batches age over time. In 2023 I used plain pectic enzyme instead of Lallzyme EX, I used a generic yeast nutrient instead of the GoFerm Protect Evolution, and I did not add extra nutrients a few days into the ferment. This was also the first year I used OptiRed and FT Rouge.  Our finished elderberry wine from 2023. ConclusionElderberry wine is one of the best wines I have made. Our 2023 vintage is still young, so I hope it will continue to improve with age. It does benefit to open it about an hour before drinking to let it breathe. I will continue to update this post as I follow both the 2023 and 2024 vintages and future vintages over time. |
AuthorIn 2016, my family and I moved from the New York City area to small town Wisconsin. Our move, this website and blog (and our previous Etsy store) is the result of our desire over the past several years to simplify our lives, increase our quality of life, reconnect with nature, and enjoy a more self-sufficient life. I grew up as a country kid in central Pennsylvania working on my grandfather's fruit farm and as a corn "de-tassler" at a local seed farm. My background is in biology where my love of nature originated. I am a former research scientist and professor and have now transitioned to a part-time stay-at-home mom, self-employed tutor, and small business owner. Thank you for taking the time to check out my site. Archives
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