CULTIVATION OF PARSNIP SEEDS
The parsnip should be wintered in the same way as the carrot or be allowed to winter in the plot. It too is biannual and the different kinds cross-fertilize each other and also with the wild parsnip, which can sometimes be found along the roadsides. A distance of at least 500 m from other blooming parsnips is needed to get pure seed from each sort.
Harvest the roots in autumn as usual or early in spring. Select at least 10-15 healthy, good quality, un-branched roots that are typical of the sort. Replant them with approx. 40 cm distance between each. The plants grow 150 cm tall but do not normally need support.
The seeds ripen and should be harvested in the same way as carrot seeds. If you clean the seeds carefully there will be hardly any rubbish at all.
The parsnip seeds lose their fertility quickly, so preferably new seeds should be grown annually.
