Carrot and relatives - The Manual of Seed Saving - page 93

POLLINATION NOTES Parsnip is an outcrosser and only rarely self-pollinates. The last few umbels
tend to not get pollinated. Blossoms are yellow. Cultivated parsnip will cross with wild parsnip
without proper isolation. With an ideally sited garden, an isolation distance of as few as 500 ft. (150
m) from wild parsnip or other parsnip cultivars may suffice; otherwise, use a spatial isolation of at
least ¼ mile (400 m) (or an isolation cage).
GROWING FOR SEED Parsnip seeds germinate relatively slowly, sometimes requiring up to three
weeks, although later sowings (one to four weeks before last anticipated spring frost) tend to germinate
quicker and more evenly than earlier sowings.
Parsnip is an extremely hardy biennial, reliably surviving winters down to zone 3. However, over-
wintering outdoors risks herbivory from moles and other rodents. It is in any case expedient to harvest
in autumn to select ideal plants to grow on for seed. Roots can then either be planted out again imme-
diately (if you are confident that herbivory will not be a problem) or overwintered in the root cellar.
Plant at 15-20 in. (40-50 cm) between and within rows.
Parsnip seeds
Stalks of parsnip plants will grow to be up to 5 ft. (1.5 m) tall and, since they are not as robust as
wild parsnip stalks, require support.
HARVEST Once parsnips begin to flower, it can take a month and a half or longer before seeds ripen.
The harvest should ideally be carried out in three phases. The first harvest is when the first umbels turn
yellowish brown; these will yield the largest, most viable seeds. Harvest two more times as umbels
turn color. Parsnip seed does not remain viable for long and should ideally be used the year after har-
vest.
Parsnip stalks have a rather unpleasant characteristic: they contain an essential oil that in combina-
tion with sunlight causes blistering and burning of the skin. Wear gloves and long sleeves when har-
vesting, and wash hands well afterward. Otherwise, harvest as you would carrots.
SELECTION CHARACTERISTICS In his definitive handbook on the growing and propagation of veget-
ables, Josef Becker-Dillingen (1938) differentiated between five types of cultivated parsnips: