Grown for our local customer for pre packing and processing, harvested during the lead up to Christmas then a later supply in the spring.
Parsnips, coming from the Latin word ‘pastus’ meaning food, is a vegetable that nowadays is grown in England and parts of Asia. When cooked right, parsnips are well capable of holding their own with any other member of the vegetable family. Boasting a tender and sweet taste, parsnips can be cooked and used in a variety of different ways, which makes them a popular choice of vegetable. Parsnips have a few interesting little facts too that are less well known. Some of these are:
During the Middle Ages, people didn’t just use parsnip as a source of food. They also used parsnip in treatment of toothache and tired feet. Parsnips develop a multi-branched, hollow and grooved stem that can reach an astonishing sixty inches in height. When it comes to harvesting, parsnip is usually harvested 6 months after sowing. The ideal time for the harvest is determined by the size of taproot. Quality parsnip is usually 6 to 10 inches long, and available from August to March in the markets around the world.
Parsnip is a very rich source of dietary fibres, vitamin C, B1, B6, B9, K and E and minerals including iron, copper, potassium and calcium. Around Europe, before industrial sugar became available, parsnip was in fact used as a sweetener, normally for the preparation of cakes and jams. Parsnip was also used in the 15th and 16th century for the preparation of some types of bread. Parsnip has compounds that, when isolated, have been found to have anti-fungal and anti-flammatory properties. Also, they have the potential to prevent development of particular types of cancer.