Why do parsnips taste better in winter? (2024)

They're an iconic root veg atChristmas, but how do parsnips grow and why do they taste so good in wintertime?

Parsnips have been cultivated since ancient times for theirlarge fleshy white root.They were broughttoEurope by the Romans, and have become a firm favourite inour British winter dishes.

From soil to plate

We start growing these large roots in the springtime to get them ready for the festive table.

Once the soil has warmed up, usually April or May, we sow parsnip seeds directly into the ground.

Parsnips actually are one of the few crops we directly sow into the ground inthe Kitchen Garden. Most other crops are grown first in our greenhousesbefore transplanting them to the soil.

But parsnips have a delicate root cap (the tissue at the tip of the plant root). If it's broken during transplanting, it causes the root to fork and stunts the growth of the parsnip. It's best to plant the seedsdirectly in the ground, so that the vulnerable root caps can stay snugly protected inthe soil.

They taste better in winter

Did you know that parsnips are primarily harvested in winter because they taste better when the weather iscold?

Once parsnipsexperiencefrost, they becomes sweeter and tastier. Stored starches in the parsnip are broken down and converted to sugar, which is why they have that delicious sweetness.

This technique is actually the parsnip'sdefence mechanism againstthe cold weather because the sugar moleculesmake the water in the plant cells less likely to freeze.

For the best flavour, parsnips are harvested when they're a small to medium width in size, as larger roots tend to bewoody and fibrous.

Friendly with the radishes

Parsnips tend to be slow to germinate, so in the Kitchen Garden we use an intercropping technique by sowing radishes between the parsnips seeds.

Intercropping is when you grow two different vegetables in the same plot, which means we can grow more vegetables in a single bed and use the space more efficiently.

So there you have it; the reasons why parsnips taste so good and how we grow them in our Gardens.