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DELIVERY INFO: We are now shipping out Seed Potatoes – new potato orders will be shipped within 3 working days. Pre-Orders for Spring plants will be shipped from late April onwards - see FAQs
Parsnip – Countess
(10 Plug Plants)
Plug plant in small bio-pots
Perfect for raised beds
Harvest in winter
Shipped in Spring 2025
£5.99
High yielding with good disease tolerance
This variety of parsnip has good disease tolerance and is easy to grow. The parsnips form a smooth skin and are very uniform in shape. Growing from our plug plants is very easy – just pop them in your veg plot when your plants arrive – the parsnip plants come in biodegradable pots so you can just plant them as they come. This helps to minimise root disturbance. A complete growing guide is provided.
Number of plants: 10 plug plants
Variety: Countess (organic)
In the kitchen: Delicious roasted with some honey. Alternatively, try mashing your parsnips with other root vegetables. Parsnips can also be thinly sliced and fried to make delicious chips or crisps.
Parsnips don't need much attention, but have a read of our grow guide for some tips.
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[post_content] => Well, growing vegetables always comes down to soil quality really, but for growing root veggies, this is extra true. Here's how to give your root vegetables the best chance to grow well.
Clay Soil? Lumpy Soil? Stony Soil?
If any of the above describes your soil, then here are some ways to make the soil a little more welcoming to your root veggies:
Dig over the soil really well, adding plenty of organic matter (well rotted manure or compost) to help the soil texture, and removing any heavy stones. Rake it well to pull up the worst offenders!
Dig a trench, about 20cm deep, and fill with multipurpose compost (you could mix this with topsoil to make it go further) - you can plant the root veggies in this instead.
Go no-dig - mulch the beds with a generous 15cm layer of compost and plant directly into the compost. Your root veggies will love it, and if you keep topping up these no-dig beds, the soil texture will begin to improve over time. See below posts on no-dig for more information
Alternatively, you can grow in pots/containers or grow bags if you turn them up on their side so that you get more depth.
Sandy Soil? Loamy Soil?
You should be able to simply plant the root veggies and mulch well and enjoy the results.
Isn't too much compost bad for roots?
We're not quite sure where this information comes from in the gardening world, or what science it is based on, but we have never had a problem growing carrots or parsnips directly in pots of compost. You may find the roots fork, but this is very common with transplanted carrot/parsnip plug plants, and that's why we supply them in biodegradable fibre pots so that they experience as little manhandling as possible. We would recommend thinning out the plugs, by pinching off some of the seedlings, so that you grow only one root per plug, if you want your parsnips/carrots to look 'right'!
So, what causes cracking/splitting/forking/misshaped veg?
The most common reasons for these to occur include the following:
Big stones in the soil causing the root to fork out
Soil going from drought conditions to overwatering can cause splitting/cracking
Seedlings/plugs being overhandled when transplanting can cause misshapen roots - thinning out can help this
Overcrowding can cause roots to tangle in amongst each other - thinning out and following plant spacings can help this.
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[post_content] => After we've had a few good frosts, you should find that the flavour of homegrown parsnips is at its best, as the cold spell will have sweetened them up. If the ground is soft enough to pull them up, then it's a great time to harvest.
How do parsnips grow?
Although gardeners treat parsnips as an annual plant, they are in fact biennials. The seeds are normally sown in spring, the roots swell in autumn and the foliage dies down over winter, at which point they are usually harvested. If left in the ground beyond winter, the plants will sprout again in early spring, producing more leaves as they go to flower. Once they re-sprout, the roots develop a tough, woody core and become fairly inedible.
Why harvest parsnips after frost?
Most gardeners like to harvest parsnips after the leaves die down in late autumn, and after the first few frosts. The reason behind this is that the roots become sweeter after standing in the cold soil for two or three weeks as starch is turned to sugar. (A single frost won't make much difference - it needs to be frosty for a week or so for the sweetness to develop.)
Why are my parsnips damaged?
In normal UK conditions, this parsnip journey is fairly standard and makes it easy for the grower to harvest the roots after frosts but before spring sprouting. However, it is a little more problematic in recent years, especially in those parts of the country that are milder and wetter, which is often the case for us here in Cornwall.
Because the autumn and early winter temperatures are milder, frosts come later in mid to late winter. This can mean that the roots are often standing in wet soil during November and December, and so are more prone to developing disease like canker where the shoulders of the roots start to turn orange/brown before rotting.
What if I don't get any hard frosts? When should I harvest?
We'd advise harvesting as soon as the foliage dies down if it looks to be a mild winter in your area in order to harvest healthy roots before they turn woody.
Can I sweeten parsnips up in the freezer?
There is plenty of advice out there saying that you can freeze parsnips in the freezer to mimic frost and sweeten them up that way. Our Rocket Gardener tried this last year, and reported that the flavour was unchanged, although she only froze the roots overnight. You could try, perhaps freezing for longer would make a difference - and let us know how you get on if you do try it!
How can I store parsnips?
Once harvested, you can store parsnips in a clamp of sand or barely moist soil, in a cold, dry place (like a watertight garden shed) for 3-4 months. Alternatively, keep them in the fridge for 2-3 weeks, or parboil and freeze.
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[post_content] => If you're growing parsnips, this article will give you a few top tips to help you get the best from them as we move into their harvesting season.
Watch out for canker
If the crown/shoulders of your parsnips begin to turn brown/orange and a little rotten, then they probably have been affected by canker, a spore driven fungal disease that causes the roots to rot. This starts to happen as cooler, damper and windier weather comes in over the autumn. You may see signs of it on foliage too (it’ll look a lot like leaf spot).
Parsnips grown in heavy soil are more at risk of developing canker, particularly if drainage is poor. You’ll also find that damaged roots will be more affected, so if you’ve accidentally forked a parsnip, or if slugs have damaged the roots at all, they are more susceptible. As a preventative measure, you can try earthing up your parsnips to ensure that the crowns are not exposed, this will help to protect them from spores. It won’t guarantee that your plants will be unaffected, but it’ll certainly help. Simply cover any exposed crowns with some good quality compost.
If your parsnips do get affected, pull them up, cut off the affected parts and use them as normal.
Wait for frosts to sweeten the roots
Parsnips develop much of their flavour when temperatures drop, and will be far nicer harvested after several frosts. You may find advice out there that you can dig them up and freeze them overnight in the freezer to mimic this, but to be honest we haven't found that that works. Better to leave it to mother nature.
Keep an eye out for new foliage
At this time of year, you'd expect to start seeing the foliage die back. New foliage would normally come through in spring, and once this begins the roots turn woody and tough and become less pleasant to eat. We have experienced, in recent years, this second sprouting of foliage happening much earlier, with the changing seasons and general confusion around what the weather is doing. We'd recommend checking, particularly if we do not get a prolonged cold spell too, and if you see signs of second foliage coming through you can pull the parsnips up.
Dig up and heel in if it gets snowy
Something that can be frustrating is that, in the cold weather at exactly the time you want to harvest your parsnips, the ground is too rock solid and you can't dig them up. To combat this, you can harvest parsnips a little earlier while the ground is softer, and then heel them in by burying them at a 45 degree angle in a planter or pot filled with loose compost. Place them in a more sheltered part of the plot where they are less likely to reach freezing temperatures. Next to a shed is ideal. This way, they become much easier to pull up when you want to use them.
Tangled roots?
Parsnips don't like their roots to be disturbed, which is why we supply them in fibre bio-pots that you can plant straight into the ground. However, even with minimal root disturbance, they can get themselves into a twist, and if they are planted too close together, or grown in heavy soil, this is more likely. There's no reason you can't still use them in your cooking (although they are really annoying to wash).
To improve things the next time you grow parsnips, try these tips:
Handle the plug plants as little as possible when they arrive
Thin out each plug plant by snipping off excess seedlings to leave just one per pot
Plant into well dug over and raked soil, with added compost if growing in clay/heavy soil and any stones removed
Well, growing vegetables always comes down to soil quality really, but for growing root veggies, this is extra true. Here’s how to give your root vegetables the best chance to...
After we’ve had a few good frosts, you should find that the flavour of homegrown parsnips is at its best, as the cold spell will have sweetened them up. If...
If you’re growing parsnips, this article will give you a few top tips to help you get the best from them as we move into their harvesting season. Watch out...
Your plants are top quality, customer service is fantastic, your regular blog posts are so incredibly helpful and the lack of plastic in your packaging is so appreciated. We now only buy our veg plants from you and recommend you to everyone!
N. B.
“”
Brilliantly packed box. The best of any plants I’ve ordered!
C. R.
“”
This isn’t a query about this order, but I wanted to thank you for the plants you sent. They are happily settled in, having arrived in good condition. Also, I was most impressed by your packaging, its quality, its recyclable material and the care with which the plants were packed. I look forward to future orders, my first having been excellent. All best wishes.
