We dug up half a row of parsnips to roast under a chicken over the weekend. A lot of people grow parsnips in this manner, exclusively to harvest in the spring. What happens over the winter is something magical, the starches turn to sugars in the cool temperatures making the parsnips, and carrots do this too, super sweet tasting. I did not think it would work out for us this year, since last year the spring was so wet the parsnips rotted in the ground. This year we simply forgot or missed several, by several I mean about 20, over the winter and discovered them in the ground after the snow melted. Being an, somewhat, absent minded gardener can sometimes pay off in veggie surprises. We had dug and ate several parsnips in the early winter months. Even the cooler temperatures during the early winter start to sweeten the parsnips. If you do not really enjoy parsnips, try these sugary treats in your garden. Parsnips can be slow growing, the seed does not really keep well from year to year and they do take up enough room in the garden. They are a member of the carrot family and need to be rotated in your crop rotation as such. All this aside I still feel parsnips are a very important vegetable to grow. I usually buy a new packet of seed, and give away the extras I do not plant. You do not really need to plant many to have some for holiday dinners, a few roast dinners and a good pot of soup. If the parsnips are not too dirty you can keep the skin on while cooking like garden carrots, preserving some of the nutrients. 

Parsnips still in the ground.