This biennial plant has long been known to mankind and is famous for its healing properties. It has long been used for bronchitis, heart disease, and weak blood vessels. It is considered the first assistant for colic, improves digestion, and acts as a diuretic. In addition, decoctions from it have long been used to prevent baldness.
All this is thanks to the beneficial substances collected in this root vegetable. Among them are potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, sulfur and silicon. It also contains sugar, mineral salts, essential oils and many vitamins and minerals. Therefore, it is very important to please yourself and your family with parsnips in winter; they will be a welcome guest on any table. However, people who have light shade skin, as it increases its sensitivity solar radiation.
Proper storage – how is it?
Now let's look at ways to preserve parsnips for the winter. There are several of them, and each has a significant difference from the others. The root of this plant is considered the most valuable. By the way, this part is formed in the first year of life, and the color and seeds only in the second. If you have a basement, you can store root vegetables in it. To do this, you should dig it up in late autumn. Be sure to cut off all the tops from the plant and thoroughly dry the part we need. In the meantime, prepare boxes with wet sand. We bury the roots of the parsnip in it and lower it into. The optimal temperature is considered to be from 0 to 1 °C. Oddly enough, the air in the cellar should be as dry as possible.
Many apartment residents cannot boast of having basement. And if on summer cottage A lot of parsnips have grown, how to store them in winter in this case? A representative of the flora can easily withstand frosts even in the garden bed, and there is no need to be too tricky with its shelter. It is enough to simply hill up 5 cm of soil. But only in this case you need to hurry up with the spring digging. If you miss the right moment, and the foliage is more than 10 cm, then it is better to leave the resident of the bed for seeds, since its root will become tough, and most useful substances will be spent on the development of the ground part. In general, it is recommended to dig up only as many parsnips for outdoor storage as you can eat in winter, and let the rest endure frost in the garden bed.
Drying and freezing parsnips is also popular; we will also look at how to store them in this form for the winter. In both cases, the root must be thoroughly washed and peeled. Then cut it into cubes, small rings or strips. If you want to dry, then lay the pieces in one layer on a sheet of white paper and place in the oven, after drying them from moisture. There it is dried at a temperature of 60 °C.
It is best to leave the oven door open and stir the parsnips constantly. If you put it on a sieve, it will dry more evenly and faster. You can also use special electric dryers for vegetables and fruits. Pour the finished product into a glass container and seal it tightly, then this preparation is added to numerous recipes as a spice.
To freeze, place the chopped pieces in a plastic bag or a special vacuum container and release the air from it. Place the container in freezer. You can also use cling film for packaging. We tightly envelop a small amount of the root, cut into strips, and place it in the freezer as is.
Recipes for parsnip preparations
But this is not the end of the ways to prepare parsnips for the winter; you can also make various dishes from it. Let's look at the most convenient and quick recipes for sunsets.
Sauce
To prepare it, we need 500 g of root vegetables, 200 g of paste, 100 ml of vinegar and 50 ml of oil. From the spices, prepare a few bay leaves, cloves and 2 teaspoons of salt. Wash the parsnips thoroughly in running water. Then place in boiling water and cook until the plant becomes soft. Beat the prepared root vegetable with a blender or pass through a sieve. Pour the resulting mass into a saucepan and add the remaining ingredients to it. Cook the mixture for half an hour, remembering to stir. Beat again with a blender to obtain a homogeneous mass. Pour into pasteurized jars and seal. Before serving, add a little sunflower oil, sour cream or broth to the sauce.
Korean parsnip
The following recipes on how to preserve parsnips and all their properties imply harvesting this root vegetable in pieces. This dish will surely captivate you with its amazing taste. We will need half a kilogram of root vegetables, several cloves of garlic, a large onion or several medium-sized ones, 25 ml of vinegar, and 50 ml of refined sunflower oil, a pinch of salt and sugar (no more than 3 g), as well as other spices to taste. Peel the root vegetable and wash thoroughly. You can fill it cold water for a few minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients. We peel the onion and garlic, cut the first into half rings, and pass the second through a press. Next, chop the parsnips and add the bulk ingredients to it along with crushed garlic. Pour the oil into a container, put the chopped onion in it and put it on the fire. Pour the hot but not boiling mixture over the parsnips. And leave it in this form so that the vegetables are thoroughly marinated.
And if you want this parsnip preparation to be preserved for the winter, add 1 tbsp to the appetizer. l. vinegar. Place the salad in sterilized jars and put it in the basement, where it will be perfectly stored.
Pickling
There are other recipes for preparing parsnips for the winter, but we will stop and present the last interesting method for our taste - pickling. We will need 1 kg of the main ingredient and 250 g of salt, as well as odorless vegetable oil. Peel the root, wash well and dry. Then cut into small pieces or strips. Mix with salt and place in sterilized jars. Place a piece of fabric on top. Pour in oil so that it covers the contents by 10–15 mm. Seal the glass containers hermetically and place them in a cool, dark place.
Parsnips are a close relative of celery and have the scientific name Pastináca, which is Latin for “food,” “feed,” or “nutrition.” Before the advent of potatoes, it was one of the main vegetables in the diet. This biennial plant is easy to grow. It blooms in June and July with small yellow flowers. It has a juicy strong root and stem with green leaves.
Parsnips have a pleasant sweetish-spicy taste and aroma. Contains carotene and vitamin C, for which it is recognized throughout the world as garden culture highest category. It also contains a lot of fiber, potassium, vitamins B and PP.
Growing and harvesting parsnips
Exclusively agricultural varieties are cultivated; wild poisonous ones are not suitable for consumption. First, seedlings are grown from seeds, and after diving, the plants are planted in open ground.
Only seeds collected in the previous season are suitable for planting; they cannot be stored for two years, they lose their properties. If they are left over from the previous harvest, it is better to use them in folk medicine.
The whole plant is eaten, salads are made from its young greens, but the root is especially useful. After planting, it forms in the first year and matures in the second.
It is harvested at the end of September and in October before frost sets in. Dig up, remove the tops, wash thoroughly, then dry. Like all root vegetables, it retains its beneficial and taste qualities well for a long time if properly stored.
How to store root parsnips for the winter
It is not always possible to grow it, so it is often harvested in a store or market. You only need to choose elastic roots white, without dark spots, cracks, unripe areas, etc.
Eat different ways how you can make an excellent preparation from the root for preparing various dishes.
So, let's look at where it is best to store parsnips for the winter.
In the cellar
- in boxes with wet sand, digging in the roots so that they do not touch each other, and leaving 1 centimeter from the top;
- You can put them on a shelf covered with newspaper so that the roots do not touch each other.
In the basement
Storage methods are the same as described above:
- in boxes with wet sand;
- on shelves lined with newspapers.
On the balcony
This great option Store parsnips fresh at home in winter. The method described above is used for this.
The sand in which the root is stored must be constantly moistened. The room temperature should be maintained no higher than 3°C.
In the ground
This vegetable is perfectly stored directly in the soil in which it grows. You don’t have to remove it from the garden if your region has moderately cold winters.
To do this, the bed is hilled up to 5 centimeters and the tops are cut off. You can sprinkle with straw if there are any very coldy and dig in March or April.
It is necessary to remove the plant from the garden bed in the spring before the tops begin to grow, otherwise all its benefits will be spent on the formation of seeds.
Drying
Prepared roots without tops should be thoroughly washed and carefully cleaned. Next, cut into circles, cubes or long slices and dry. Drying occurs in one of the following ways:
- in an oven preheated to 100°C, on a baking sheet with parchment, 3-4 hours until moisture is lost;
- in a special device according to the instructions;
- in a dry and warm, well-ventilated place, away from direct sunlight - on a balcony or attic for 3-4 days;
- at home in the summer on the run.
When the pieces reach a consistency without moisture and become elastic, they need to be cooled. Leave the stock in a dark, dry place at room temperature, the best container for the preparation:
- linen bags;
- ziplock bags;
- glass jar with a tight lid.
You can take the bag with the preparation out onto the balcony, into the pantry, or store it on the door in the refrigerator.
The shelf life of dry roots at a temperature not exceeding 20°C is up to 12 months in any container.
In the freezer
Peeled roots can also be frozen. In this form they perfectly retain their taste. The following methods are suitable for this:
- whole in a tightly tied bag;
- grate the parsnip root and pack into bags in portions;
- cut into slices or cubes, pack into bags in portions;
- cut into cubes with carrots, onions and bell pepper, freeze for soup and stew;
- grate and add fresh herbs, freeze in ice trays - for soup, stew and salads;
- dried in a tightly tied bag.
The shelf life of frozen parsnips, at a temperature not exceeding -15°C, is up to 12 months.
In the form of blanks
You can preserve the fresh root in pieces or whole.
A vegetable garden is not a vegetable garden if spices do not grow there. Many summer residents grow dill, parsley, cilantro, celery and many other spices, but for some reason few people pay attention to such a root vegetable as parsnip. And very much in vain.
Parsnip is a biennial honey plant that is easy to care for. Externally similar to carrots, only creamy in color. It has excellent resistance to drought, cold, and loves light. During flowering (June-July) it can become a decoration of the garden.
Agricultural technology is so simple that it is impossible not to grow it, especially considering its taste and beneficial features which are aimed at strengthening the circulatory system.
There is one peculiarity of parsnips - only fresh ones are needed for sowing, since they retain germination only for 1 year, and the germination percentage is not particularly high, up to 50%. But if you want to grow it on personal plot- it's not really a big problem. It is important for you to grow a crop in the first year in order to collect your high-quality seeds in the second.
Good predecessors to parsnips are potatoes, cucumbers, cabbage and onions. After carrots and celery, parsnips should be planted no earlier than 3 years later.
Common varieties of parsnip: “Student”, “ White stork", "Round Early".
Sowing parsnip seeds in late April-early May
In the fall, compost (4 kg per 1 sq. m) is added for deep digging of the soil; in the spring, before sowing, the area is harrowed, leveled and slightly compacted. For growing parsnips, select a sunny area with light sandy loam or loamy fertile soil.
Parsnips contain essential oil, this is an indicator that the seeds are difficult to germinate and require preliminary preparation, soak them for 1-2 days, changing the water every 2 hours, and germinate in a damp cloth in a warm room, periodically moistening it (it takes about 2 weeks for germination), then harden it by placing the seeds in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours . Germinated seeds are sown only in moist soil; they will die in dry soil.
Sow in rows, the distance between which is 30-40 cm, sowing 0.5 g per 1 sq.m and embedding in the soil to a depth of 1-1.5 cm.
3 weeks after sowing, seedlings will appear, which are thinned out 2 times. The first time, when the first pair of true leaves appears, leaving a distance between plants of 5-6 cm, the second time, thin out in the phase of 5-7 leaves, leaving a distance between plants of 15 cm. 
Regular watering, fertilizing (fresh manure will worsen the quality of root crops), loosening, on which the correct shape largely depends, and weeding. When performing any work with parsnips, wear gloves, as dry hot weather the leaves secrete essential oil, which can cause a burn.
During flowering, an attack is possible, especially if carrots and aphids grow nearby.
How to collect parsnip seeds
Parsnip seeds are round and brownish in color. flat shape. Leave a few root crops to overwinter in the soil; with the onset of warmth, they will begin to grow and become huge bushes that can interfere with other plants, so it will be better to replant them in the fall. Flowering will begin in June, and seeds will appear a month later. Their ripening period is long (about 100 days) and uneven, so you will need to collect them regularly (shake the umbrellas), and those seeds that you do not have time to collect will fall off or be scattered by the wind throughout the area. After collection, carry out culling and already next spring start sowing.
Storing parsnips
If you have a cellar, then at the end of September, dig up the root crops with a pitchfork, cut off the tops, dry them, place them in moistened sand and lower them into the cellar. Storage at 0-1°C.
If you have nowhere to store parsnips in winter, then they will miraculously overwinter in a garden bed without shelter, but covered with a 5-6 cm layer of soil.
In early spring you can dig up root vegetables and use them for their intended purpose, the main thing is not to be late with digging. When the rosette of leaves is 10 cm or more long, it is better not to touch the plant and leave it for seed propagation; the root crop becomes coarser, and all the strength of the plant is already spent on the development of seeds.
Storing parsnips dried and frozen
For the winter, dig up root vegetables, wash thoroughly with running cold water, cut into rings, and place on white paper to dry. When the parsnips are dry, place in the oven to warm up, let cool, pour into glass jar and close the lid so that no bugs can get in there.
For freezing, parsnips are peeled and cut into pieces. Fold in plastic bag in 2 layers and release the air. Tie it up and put it in the freezer.
I knew before, of course, that there is such a vegetable as parsnip, I saw a photo, but I never sowed it or tasted it. And when you can buy any seeds, even artichokes or asparagus, you really want to buy everything, sow it in the garden, and then try what it tastes like. One day, precisely for these reasons, I purchased a simple bag of seeds, on which it was written: Parsnip (there was not even the name of the variety).
Photo of parsnip vegetable in the garden:
Knowledge about this vegetable was minimal - it grows like carrots, only the root vegetable is white. I heard - I heard, I even read that parsnips were eaten in Rus' from time immemorial, when potatoes were not yet known: “Eat turnips, rutabaga, parsnips this way and that.” That's all I knew.
Growing parsnips from seeds
The seeds turned out to be quite large, and it was easy to sow them immediately at the required distance (15-20 cm), so as not to thin out later. True, they have wings, and the wind during sowing can blow away the seeds. To avoid empty spaces in the beds, choose calm, windless weather for sowing this vegetable.
How to grow parsnips from seeds? I sowed parsnips at the end of March immediately in open ground: the day was warm, partly cloudy, the soil was soft, the furrows were watered before sowing and mulched with compost.
Before planting root crops (carrots, beets, radishes), I always make very deep furrows, fill them halfway with loose compost, water them well, and only after that do I sow the seeds. It is impossible to do otherwise on our Kuban heavy black soil. Dense soil will not allow root crops to grow deeper.
The vegetable seedlings were initially lost among the friendly weeds. Moreover, I saw parsnip for the first time and could not identify it. It was not immediately possible to identify the seedlings without knowing them by sight. A month and a half after sowing, I still saw a straight line of seedlings among the weeds.
After hand weeding, loosening, and careful watering from a mug, the seedlings began to grow actively. And after a while they were no longer afraid of anyone. Either the spreading leaves interfered with the weeds, but all summer and until late autumn the parsnip bed decorated the garden with carved greenery, without requiring special care.
The most interesting thing for me began when harvesting vegetables. The root crops turned out to be larger than carrots, conical and went very deep into the soil. It was not worth even thinking about pulling them out of the ground by their green tail.
At first I tried to dig it up with a shovel, but when digging, the roots broke and I pulled out only the upper part into the light, and half of the fruit remained in the ground, which had to be removed by going 30 centimeters deep.
Then I took a pitchfork, but it didn’t make it any easier. The effect was, of course, better - there were more whole root vegetables, but how much sweat came off me - I need to tell you separately.
Parsnip root crop harvest On next year I again sowed a bed of parsnips from the same bag. The day was warm, partly cloudy, without wind, the ground was damp, deeply dug up since the fall with compost from the onions.
Some online publications note the relative heat-loving nature of parsnips. Either cold April affected germination, or the expiration date of the seeds had expired, but exactly twenty seedlings sprouted in a fairly long bed. They took advantage of their freedom and took plenty of everything: light, air, humus, irrigation moisture.
Knowing that parsnips do not like heat, I planted them in partial shade. It was open to the sun only from morning until 12 noon. At least 5 months must pass from germination to ripening of this vegetable.
The underground pests did not touch the parsnips: maybe they considered the root inedible and moved away from it - I don’t know. Although, according to the evidence of other gardeners, mice quite often damage root crops.
Before harvesting, I had to cut off the leaves: there was no point in even thinking about pulling it by the mane - the tops of the root crops turned out to be 5-7 cm in diameter.
Someone might smile when they see my parsnips. Since somewhere I came across reviews about the size of the top of the root vegetable being comparable to the diameter of the saucer. But remembering my previous harvesting experience, I realized that I couldn’t dig up this crop so easily.
By the way, the parsnips from this year's harvest turned out to be much sweeter. Then I read that it turns out to be a late vegetable, regardless of the ripening period. It needs to be removed from the garden as late as possible so that it remains in cold soil for 1.5-2 weeks. Then the root vegetables become more intensely sweet in taste.
I cleaned it at the end of October. And at the beginning of the month there was an unexpected frost. My peppers and tomatoes immediately disappeared - they froze. Nothing happened to the parsnips. But I think that the fact that I harvested the parsnips after freezing influenced their more sweet taste and aroma.
I read on one of the forums that it turns out that in Kuban, parsnips can be left in the ground for the winter. They say that in the spring it becomes even larger, and it’s even easier to dig it up. The taste of such an overwintered vegetable is much sweeter and juicier. Need to try!
And I also want to warn allergy sufferers! Thin, weed, and pick off parsnip leaves in the evening, after sunset, or when it is cloudy. The fact is that parsnip leaves release some essential oils in the sun and in the heat. If you have sensitive skin, you may get burned. Alas, tested from my own experience. By the way, the “Rescuer” cream helped me.
Parsnip - recipes on how to cook it
Raw parsnips are delicious - they are sweeter than carrots and spicy, like parsley. The pulp is white, very dense, with a high content of dry matter. When you fry it, it browns beautifully, you can’t tell the taste from potatoes, appearance. You can't spoil the soup with parsnips either. It is suitable as a filling for pies and stuffed peppers. Parsnips make an excellent topping for vegetable marinades and white sauces. For the winter, it can be dried by mixing with other white roots - parsley and celery.
Here are some recipes I've tried.
Soup dressing
- 1 part parsnip,
- 1 part carrot,
- 1 part onion,
- 1 part red tomatoes
- 1 part salt.
Chop everything, mix well, let stand for 1-2 days until the salt is completely dissolved and packaged. You can store it in the refrigerator even without freezing.
Roasted parsnips
Peel the root, cut into cubes, add salt to taste, add onion rings and fry in vegetable oil for no longer than 8-10 minutes. Serve with sour cream.
Pasta sauce
Boil one carrot, 1 onion, 200 g parsnips until soft. It tastes better if you boil the vegetables in meat broth, but you can do without it. Remove from the broth and mash into a puree. Dilute with the same broth and pour over the cooked pasta.
Stuffed pepper
Grate the parsnips and carrots equally on a coarse grater, add salt, finely chopped onions, and leeks. Fry everything in sunflower oil. Combine with boiled rice, stir, fill red peppers with filling. Simmer for 10 minutes in sour apple juice or tomato.
Sauerkraut with parsnips
Chop white cabbage, grind with salt and add, as usual, carrots, and besides it, the same amount of chopped parsnips. Compact and ferment for ten days, piercing with a sharpened stick.
For 5 kg of cabbage - 300 g of carrots, 300 g of parsnips, 100 g of salt.
Vegetable stew in a frying pan
Coarsely chop the parsnips, carrots, and onions. Fry everything in vegetable oil, add salt, add chopped tomatoes, bring to readiness, season with grated garlic.
Assorted in jars
Boil green beans. Fry parsnips, carrots, diced in vegetable oil. Cut small onions and tomatoes in half, simmer in sour apple juice (instead of vinegar), adding salt to taste. Place all this in layers in steamed jars, adding a spoonful of grated garlic to each. Sterilize for 5 minutes, roll up with tin lids. In winter it goes well with boiled rice.
This year I planted a new crop for myself - parsnips. The harvest seems to be ripe, but what to do with it? Let's figure it out now.
- Parsnips are such a cool vegetable! You can also cut it into a salad, and chicken soup acquires an extraordinary aroma! I put parsnips in everything I cook and fry. It is stored in the same way as carrots. And if you put it in a bag and in the vegetable compartment in the refrigerator, then it can stay there until summer. It can also be frozen perfectly.
- I parsnips, as well as celery, leeks, carrots. I peel them, then shred them in a food processor with a cabbage grater (thin circles are obtained), then I dry them on dryers. If necessary, I crush the mixture of vegetables I need using a coffee grinder or mill from a food processor. I use cutlet pasta for dumpling soups. There are a lot of options.
- Among other things, parsnips have a wide range of therapeutic effects for skin diseases. In dermatology, parsnip is used internally in the form of an infusion of 2-3 tablespoons of dry crushed leaves or 2 teaspoons of crushed roots. Or 1/2 teaspoon of crushed fruits in 2 cups of boiling water, boil for 15 minutes. The resulting decoction is taken chilled, 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day for psoriasis and vitiligo.
For vitiligo, it is recommended to use parsnips in food as a product containing tyrosine. Externally, a tincture of herbs with vodka (1:5) is rubbed into discolored spots once a day. The surrounding skin is lubricated with a protective cream. After this, the skin is irradiated by the sun, starting from 1 minute. Every day the exposure is increased by 1-1.5 minutes for 3-4 weeks. The courses are repeated with weekly breaks throughout the summer season.
For premature skin aging, use parsnip leaves in salads with any vegetable oil. This improves blood circulation in the pelvic organs, which promotes the production of sex hormones.
When graying, treatment with nettle preparations is combined with the introduction of parsley, celery or parsnip leaves, smeared with sea buckthorn oil, as well as the juice of the roots of these plants, 1-3 tablespoons once a day.
- Parsnips are a wonderful root vegetable. They are used in cooking meat. Once you try it, you will eat it all the time. It gives the meat a fresh aroma. I was in the Stavropol region; there, neither soups nor borscht nor shulyum nor sauces are prepared without parsnip. To store it there, they cut it finely, dry it and store it in canvas bags bags or in jars.
- Leave a few roots in the ground. Greenery will appear in early spring. Faster and more abundant than parsley. And for an early salad it’s no worse. For my early spring salad I use: parsnips, perennial onions and Jerusalem artichoke. I don’t dig up Jerusalem artichokes in the fall, but use them in the spring. It grows near the fence, the ground here thaws first, first I dig it up as needed. You can add carrots and an apple. In addition, a biennial plant will produce seeds (like parsley) - and there is no need to buy it.
- And I got used to closing it parsnip in Korean(where is the recipe). Prepared in the same way as carrots. It turns out very tasty too.
- And I fry parsnips like potatoes. The taste is amazing.