Parsnip Tender & True

The British heritage parsnip whose name says exactly what makes it worth growing. A kitchen garden standard since the 1930s, holding an RHS Award of Garden Merit for the three things that separate a good parsnip from an ordinary one: long smooth roots, real sweetness, and resistance to canker.

Tender refers to the flesh, which is fine-grained throughout with none of the woody core that spoils older varieties. True refers to its consistency — straight, even, well-formed roots rather than the forked specimens parsnips so often produce.

Leave them in the ground until after the first hard frost. Below freezing the starches convert to sugar and the flavour deepens to something quite different from an autumn-lifted root. They will stand all winter, improving with every cold snap, so lift as you need them into March.