Fat parsnips

It has been a couple of weeks since we visited the plot. It looks fairly tidy and mostly in good order. The rats seem to have left us one way or another. The felt on the shed needs repairing - job for a calm, dry day. I hope the wooden roof under the felt is intact so we only need to cover it with some more felt. Broccoli is looking good, so we might get some spears in a couple of months or so, just when fresh veg is hard to get.

Today we took some leeks and some parsnips. The leeks are not quite as big as previous years after being badly eaten in the summer. They are, nonetheless, quite respectable and some may yet fatten up some more. Cleaned and trimmed they look great. The parsnips are huge. They seem to have benefited from the extra rain this year. Their leaves are dying back so we pulled seven to bring home, the straightest ones are pictured (I'm not going to show the worst ones now am I?). The really big ones can get a bit woody in the middle, so we discard the core. All of these were cut up into chunks or chips, blanched and frozen ready for making into stews and soups. We have hardly touched the crop so parsnips will be available all winter and most of next year from the freezer I think. The flesh seems white, soft and creamy and the smell of freshly cut parsnip make my mouth water.