This week it’s: The pleasures of parsnips
We look at a versatile winter vegetable crop
THE TV gardener Arthur Billitt – who presented Gardeners’ World with the much-loved Percy Thrower, back in the 1960s and ’70s, and who died more than 20 years ago – maintained that it was a waste of time to sow parsnip seed after March. Arthur was a supreme vegetable gardener, and as a student I hung on to his every word. However, on this matter, I disagree with him. There are many quirks about sowing parsnip seed (see below), but sowing in April, and even May, has worked well for me! Let’s take a sideways look at this humble root vegetable.
■ Not everyone likes the strong flavour of parsnips. Some people put parsnip chunks in stews, before
