After two failed attempts of growing parsnips … Both, failing to germinate. I set off on a mission determined by hook or by crook my third attempt would succeed.. I already knew parsnip seeds need to be fresh and not to use any of the previous years. I thought I was doing everything right and was quite miffed. I couldn’t blame the seed, so I blamed the weather.. Then  I came across a post on a gardening forum. [do you chit or not chit parsnip seeds] At first glance I thought I was reading about potatoes – I soon realised it was parsnip they were talking about..

Hm.. Could this be the answer to my prayers ? So off I went to google chitting parsnip seed and came across some photos of seed pre chitting on damp paper towels.

It worked a treat, only a couple didn’t amount to anything…

How I grew my parsnips successfully…

April

Get a plastic sandwich, tupperwear box, put some wet paper towel in the bottom, scatter the seeds on, put another sheet of moist paper towel on top and put the lid on, leave it for a few days, a week or thereabouts; the seeds should have germinated. Then you can carefully sow the pre-chitted seeds when they have sprouted as you would normally taking care not to damage the  roots..

I also found it easier to throw some compost onto the bed before sowing I have heavy clay soil that’s quite lumpy – using a small amount of  compost in lines across my bed was the ideal solution to draw a row with my hand hoe making sowing easier.  I use this method with other root crops too as I find it difficult to get a fine tilth with my clay soil.

[Light Bulb moment.. I've just realised this is a good way of checking if any old seeds will germinate] doh…