Overshoot

I wasn’t going to do any gardening today. There’s still snow on the ground in many places, and more forecast for the end of the week. But I did remember that when I had potted on my chitted parsnips, I’d left the ones that hadn’t sprouted yet to see what they would do. I wonder how they’re getting on, I thought. Better take a look…

Ah. I think we can safely say that those have germinated, don’t you?

Now, were I a proper gardener, the ruthless kind, I’d just have chucked those out and started again. The whole point of a parsnip is the root, and so planting a sprout that’s tied itself in a knot, or grown into a spiral, isn’t likely to yield great results. But it’s really hard to get rid of something that’s tried so hard to actually grow, especially given I’d got none at all to germinate last year. And besides, I was kind of curious to see what happened to the spiral one. Curly parsnip fries, anyone?

So I’ve planted them straight into the veg plot where the snow had melted. No potting on, no hardening off, although I did try and straighten them out a bit. They’re under bottle cloches, and they can like it or lump it. ‘They’ll either do, or they’ll die,’ as my neighbour says.

As to which one it is – you’ll have to watch this space. I know, I know – the tension’s going to kill you, isn’t it?