Peffley: Sweetest parsnips have long history

Parsnip season is around the corner. Parsnips are a “crop of antiquity,” an old-fashioned vegetable, brought to America from Europe by colonists but it had been in cultivation for thousands of years.

Centuries ago, copious numbers of parsnips grew on the banks of the Rhine and legend has it that Tiberius (Roman emperor A.D. 14-37) so loved parsnips that he brought them from Germany to Rome every year. Parsnip was a staple food in the Middle Ages for all the populace except bourgeois and noble classes, who it is said avoided it. Because of its sweetness, parsnip was used in confections, only to be replaced by the sugar beet.

Today parsnip is a favorite root crop in England and elsewhere it is making a comeback with renewed appeal to lovers of old vegetables.

Parsnips have a special place in vegetable gardens because they are a “bridge crop,” --- crops that bridge seasons by maturing in a temperature range other than the temperature range in which they were planted.

They are a long-season crop, 120 days to maturity, with a growth habit that spans three seasons.

Parsnips botanically are a biennial but are grown as an annual for the edible root. Seed is sown in the spring, plants grow over the summer, harvested in the autumn, consequently classified with other winter vegetables. Plants allowed to overwinter in the ground develop seedstalks the following spring.

Parsnip is classified as a winter vegetable because roots can be harvested into winter months and only reach full sweetness and flavor after several freezes. Biochemical pathways in parsnip synthesize starch in tissues over the summer, which after a freeze are converted by enzymes to sugar.

The long, thin roots of parsnips are creamy colored with firm flesh. Medium-sized roots are the most tasty with smoothest texture. Avoid large roots, which may be over mature, woody in texture and astringent in taste. Fresh parsnips have a slight celery-like flavor, sweet and mildly nutty taste.

These characteristics led to the following Q&A:

Q. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reader Shannon B. of Lubbock asked if carrots and parsnips are the same vegetable.

A. Roots of parsnips resemble those of carrots, yet they are entirely different vegetables. While not the same vegetable, they are related --- might say they are distant cousins as they are both members of the family Apiaceae (a-pee-a-see-A-ee), formerly the Umbelliferae family. The scientific name for carrot is Daucus carota and Pastinaca sativa for parsnip.

Parsnips can substitute for carrots in recipes but contain almost twice the carbohydrates. Parsnips are very high in fiber; C, E, and B vitamins; calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium; the antioxidant apigenin, reported to play a role in preventing cancer.

They are delicious when roasted, sautéed, mashed, as chips, and in soups. Consider adding them to your garden next spring.

Some information from abcofagri.com

Ellen Peffley taught horticulture at the college level for 28 years, 25 of those at Texas Tech, during which time she developed two onion varieties. She is now the sole proprietor of From the Garden, a market garden farmette. You can email her at gardens@suddenlink.net