Problem Parsnips

We've had real problems with parsnip canker this year - as illustrated in the rather "Prime Suspect" / forensic style picture. It's actually not as bad as it looks but it makes storing the parsnips impossible - you have to cut out the cankered area as soon as possible or it spreads throughout the root. Apart from that though, they're perfectly edible. It's just such a disappointment when you pull a seemingly perfect parsnip out of the ground and turn it round to see a monstrosity like this.

Canker is a fungi which gets into the crown when it is cracked or damaged by pests. Apparently it's most likely to occur in drought and highly fertile soil and this would make sense as it was so horribly dry last summer. In areas where canker is common it's recommended to use resistant cultivars or make later sowings. I'm going to try growing Turga again next year which is what I grew this year, as it looks such a lovely  parsnip, but I'm also going to try a shorter root as short rooted, smaller parsnips are supposed to be more resistant.

It seems quite common on my allotments that certain diseases are virtually impossible to avoid, especially where people haven't done any kind of crop rotation on their plot. I'm hoping that as we rotate our crops over the next couple of years it should start to reduce some of the nasties that are hanging around in the soil. Fingers crossed.