The key tools for sowing parsnips in my clay soil is an eight foot metal bar and a riddle sieve. I start by sieving a decent amount of compost from the compost bin (you can use bought multi-purpose compost if you want) and then add a trowel of builders' sand to ensure it flows nicely. I should have a relatively fine growing medium without stones. (Pic - Gladiator F1 parsnip),
Prepare the ground, mine was dug over last Autumn and covered throughout the Winter so was in good shape. Deep digging isn't really required just clear the weeds and ensure you can get the bar into the ground. I grow Gladiator F1 parsnips, grown in this way they become large so I only need a limited amount so the bar method works well and is worth the effort. Gladiator F1 have small cores so that's a hell of a lot of parsnip so you don't need a field full.
Drive the bar into the ground at your first planting spot, give it a wiggle in a circular motion to create a cone shaped hole in the ground, pull the bar out and drive it back into the hole with more circular wiggling. Repeat until the bar is 1.5-2 foot down, for me at this depth red clay appears on the bottom of the bar and I know I'm in the sub-soil on my plot. You should now have a lovely conical hole in the ground at your feet. (Pic - bar and holes for parsnip sowing).
Parsnips are fairly large plants, well the way I grow them anyway, so I leave a foot between planting spots. Repeat the bar process for as many as you need. I grow a limited number of large parsnips but you can equally grow smaller parsnips by creating shallower holes 6-8 inches apart or use my carrot planting method (described below).
Back-fill the holes with the sieved soil right to the top, add a little water to settle the soil then top up with more fine compost. Parsnip seed doesn't keep well so buy smaller amounts every year. Sow 4 to 5 seeds at every position and cover with some fine compost, water gently or the seeds wash away. I cover each spot with a bottomless drinks bottle just for some added protection. Parsnips can take some weeks to germinate, once they do, slowly thin out the plants to one per growing position and remove the bottles once established. (If one of your spots hasn't got a plant I have found that you can transplant a thinning to an empty spot when young). Parsnips can be eaten after the first frosts and can stay in the ground well into the new year, dig them when you need them. (Pic - Gladiator F1 parsnip grown with the bar method).
I grow carrots in two ways using two different varieties. Blunt-ended Sweet Candle F1, the most gorgeous carrots you'll ever taste, are very large when grown in a barrel or a similar container. My barrel contains a sieved sand/compost mixture which I just top up, re-mix and add a little fertilizer to each year. The barrel height offers good protection from the low flying carrot root fly too.
To sow, I make around 20 circle marks with a small pot on top of the soil leaving a narrow space between them, this just helps me space out my sowing. I sow a small pinch of seed in the centre of each circle, cover with compost and finely water. The carrots are slowly thinned out as they grow to one per position and are pulled from the Autumn onward. (Pictured, large barrel grown Sweet Candle carrots).
Unfortunately my clay soil and the persistent carrot root fly doesn't really allow for a good crop of Sweet Candle in the ground so, for smaller but more numerous carrots I grow Resistafly F1 which really do live up to their name - I've had great success with this variety totally uncovered and unprotected.
To combat my heavy soil I once again make up a bucket or two of sieved home-made compost or bought compost mixed with a trowel or two of sand. In my tilled ground I push the spade into the earth about 6-8 inches down and wiggle back and forth making a narrow 'V' shape, repeat down the line so you have a shallow 'V' shaped trench. (As spades are curved, I turn the spade around and repeat in the trench just to even up the 'V' shape).
Back fill the narrow trench with your fine compost mix and run some water into the trench to settle then top up with compost. Sow your carrots thinly on the compost and lightly cover with a little more fine compost and give it a pat to ensure good soil to seed contact. Again, lightly water. If you're not growing Resistafly or just want to give added protection, cover with fine mesh. Thin the carrots after germination but not too much as I find pulling smaller carrots leaves others to grow on. (Pic - Resistafly F1 carrots grown using the 'V' tench method in heavy soils with no mesh protection).
That's it for the plot, my carrots and parsnips are sown. In the greenhouse, my plants are coming on nicely; the Roma tomatoes are probably going to need to be potted on again and the Bosworth F1 Brussels sprouts are just beginning to put out 'true' leaves. I'll call it a day here so bye for now.
