Monday 5 November 2012

Harvest Monday - 5th November

Today is "Guy Fawkes Day" (aka Bonfire Night, or Fireworks Night), the day on which we remember the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which Guy Fawkes and his colleagues were foiled in their attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament with barrels of gunpowder. This day is normally characterised by the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire, and by letting off loads of fireworks.

This week I picked the final, final, FINAL, batch of Runner Beans. Here you can see them with a few of the "Turkey" chillis from the plants now ensconced in the garage. There will definitely be no more Runner Beans this year, because I have cut down the plants.


This week has also seen the harvesting of my first Parsnips of the year.


The first one I dug up was the wierdly-shaped one, and of course I was immediately worried that they would all be like that. Fortunately the next three were fine. Not as big as I would like, but OK. Cleaned-up they look quite good. With a few scars of canker on them I know they wouldn't win any prizes, but I also know that those blemishes are only skin deep and are sure to be concealing some lovely white flesh underneath. And if you could smell how strong their aroma is, you'd just KNOW they will taste nice!


I have plan for using these parsnips, but I'm not going to tell you what it is until I have seen whether it works...

16 comments:

  1. I have never tried growing parsnips before. I wonder if they are troubled by the carrot fly. I now they take a lot longer than carrots so they would need to be covered a long time if they were.

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    1. Hi Daphne; No, parsnips are not troubled by Carrot Root Fly. Leaf-miners, yes; bacterial canker, yes, but neither seem to create anything other than superficial damage. I find parsnips to be very reliable.

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  2. Nice parsnips! I've tried to grow them but the voles found them too tasty and ate them before they got big enough for me to dig them up. Seeing yours makes me want to try again next year!

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  3. We mostly get a bit of canker on parsnips but only a problem as far as supermarkets are concerned.

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  4. Very nice beans, peppers and parsnips. I believe my pepper growing will branch out a bit next year after seeing all yours and getting so many good ideas on how to use them.

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  5. Mmmmmmmmmm Yummmmmy I can smell the sweet aroma of them lovely Parsnips from down here in Winchester LOL :-) I have a recipe for Parsnip Chutney and Parsnip Olarrossso Sherry if you would like, but it would have to be secret lol !!!!!!! Am gonna be making Bombay Parsnip Chuntey and Parsnip Ollarosso Sherry within the next couple of weeks for Chrimbo!!!!! :-))

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  6. P.S...Watch this space LOL Blessings ty for sharing your Monday Harvest :))))

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  7. Very nice parsnips! and i'm sure those beans and hot peppers will make a nice meal.

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  8. This is the first time I've heard of bacterial canker — aside from the wayward one, your parsnips look perfectly fine... how does this disease manifest itself, and does it affect any other vege?

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    1. Canker only seems to affect parsnips, as far as I know. It produces patches (normally horizontal lines) of brown growth, which in severe cases can be soft and mushy. Normally it is only skin-deep and is removed with peeling.

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  9. I love your odd shaped parsnips... well done you for this harvest, there's so much i'd do with it!

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  10. I've always found Guy fawkes a little gruesome - all that burning of effigies, icky.

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  11. Man those parsnips look good!!! They're my absolutely bestest veg and I struggle to find them here in SA. Maybe I'll try growing them in the Winter altho I think even our winter days will prove too hot for them! Will let you know progress.....xxxx

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  12. Have not grown parsnips - but look forward to it. They look grand!

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  13. When we lived in England for 5 years I 'discovered' parsnips. We never ate them in Australia - they weren't commonly found and they never tasted of much. But in Blighty, they tasted amazing. I haven't grown them in Australia but I will be moving to a place that will have a frost and so I believe that is the factor that adds the flavour. Are they difficult to grow?

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    1. No, I don't think parsnips are difficult to grow. Germination can be a bit hit-and-miss, but after that there is not much to be done other than to wait patiently for the veg to develop. Patience is an essential requirement!

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