#whitegemparsnip

[seedkeeping]

Parsnip mistakes and strategies: I’m wearing long sleeves, pants, and gloves, which I immediately took off and put in the wash. A few years back, I learned the hard way that parsnip oils mixed with sunlight can cause painful blisters and burns - some of my scars lasted six months. That’s why I waited for a cloudy day this time to make harvesting seed stalks less hazardous. I hadn’t planned to have the parsnips go to seed in a sprawling three sisters patch, but it’s hard to plan for biennials in my small space. Next year, I’ll have the parsnips that I plant this fall go to flower and seed in a single well-spaced row so I can keep the plants at arms length. #whitegemparsnip #parsnipburn #parsnip #parsnipseeds #seedsaving #irishheirloom

[seedkeeping]

White Gem Parsnip is a 1970s selection of Offenham Market Parsnip, which was a new, well-respected variety in the early 1900’s. I ordered seeds last year from Irish Seed Savers (@irish.seed.savers) because White Gem is sweet, productive, and canker-resistant. My family fished in the Galway Bay in Ireland, near their 2-acre farm where they grew cabbage, carrots, turnips and perhaps parsnips. Carrots and parsnips (and often parsley root and skirret) were called the same names in medieval literature (basically: “root”). I’d love to know more about its role in the lives of Irish farmers. Parsnips seem to be in countless Irish peasant recipes, and are known to be one of the few very important vegetables before the arrival of the Andean potato. It is thought to originate in the Mediterranean, though earliest evidence of human use points to the Alps (see William Woys Weaver’s new edition of Heirloom Vegetable Gardening and Wolf D. Storl’s A Curious History of Vegetables for more history on this plant). Tip: overwintered roots lifted in early spring (versus the fall) are sweeter! Caution: I’ve gotten severe blisters from touching the leaf juices of this plant in the sunshine. #whitegemparsnip #parsnip #offenhammarketparsnip #pastinacasativa #irishseedsavers #irishfood #seedkeeping