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Post by oxbowfarm on Apr 20, 2014 9:11:54 GMT -5
We have quite the population of feral parsnips along the creek. They pretty much live in the zone outside the band of reed canary grass but mostly in the zone that occasionally floods, with some outliers further up the hill. I've thought about seeing about selecting something usefull from this population given that it is clearly quite resilient and "bio-regionally adapted". I've been warned that they are likely poisonous, or could be confused with poisonous plants in Apiaceae, but I think I know a parsnip when I see one.  I think these look pretty promising considering they direct seed themselves in the fall into quackgrass/goldenrod "sod" and compete with them year round. I went ahead and cut the lower roots off several of these yesterday and steamed them up for a taste test. Flavor was parsnip, not very sweet, but they are already leafed out and growing again. I also am neither sick nor dead, so that is promising as well. I'm going to dig a few more of the larger ones and stick them in the field to see about working towards a "Wyncoop Creek" parsnip. May not amount to much, but there isn't a lot of work involved here either. |
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Post by khoomeizhi on Apr 20, 2014 10:34:45 GMT -5
i think 'poison parsnip' just refers to the aerial parts' juice-on-skin-in-sun blister reaction, and not anything relating to edibility...though i appreciate that you'd want to know they're not water hemlock or similar.
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Post by 12540dumont on Apr 20, 2014 14:40:25 GMT -5
Love it! Yeah, I agree, parsnip rash. Of course everything gives me a rash, corn, amaranth, asparagus, poison oak, washing dishes...okay I'm lying about the last one.
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Post by trixtrax on Apr 20, 2014 16:37:57 GMT -5
It is weird that the East Coast has feral populations of parsnips while I just haven't really seen them much on the West Coast. Maybe I haven't looked enough? I can remember pulling weedy parsnip patches back in PA in the summers as a kid..
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Post by steev on Apr 20, 2014 23:17:32 GMT -5
Ox: if you eat those, you will die, same as if you don't. I'm pretty sure we don't have feral parsnips in California, only very poisonous similar plants. I suspect parsnips have never been popular enough here (root veggie/winter crops being less vital) for them to "escape".
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Post by oxbowfarm on Apr 21, 2014 6:36:02 GMT -5
I think the concern is that they would be confused with hogweed or poison hemlock. But I've seen these parsnips flowering for years now, they have the classic yellow/green parsnip flowers and the big papery seeds. Hogweed and hemlock have white/pinky white flowers and hogweed gets unbelievably huge when it's flowering.
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Post by Walk on Apr 21, 2014 7:58:34 GMT -5
We have whole fields of wild parsnips here. They are quite tasty in the spring. The rash seems to affect everyone but is most problematic when the plant is flowering. If one wants to mow or cut it with a scythe, you need full clothing and gloves to avoid any spatter. Besides plant juice and sunlight, it is also made worse by sweat. My husband backed into a flowering plant once when he wasn't wearing a shirt and it got under his armpit. He had a blistery rash that looked like a dermal sweat stain. It lasted for many months before it finally faded away entirely. Initially he said it felt like a blow torch under the arm. Fortunately, if you accidentally contact parsnip you have some time to respond to avoid the rash. Wash the area ASAP with plenty of flowing water and you'll avoid most of the misery. I've wondered if the garden varieties are as potent as the wild escapees?
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Post by hortusbrambonii on Apr 21, 2014 11:49:19 GMT -5
I thought Hogweed is supposed to be edible too (I think Stephen Barshtow said something like that in a FB thread, and I do consider him an authority on edible plants), although it's an understatement to say that it might be quite dangerous on other fronts...
There's 2 wild subspecies of Parsnips here in Belgium, one of which is called 'brandpastinaak' (literally 'burn-parsnip', Pastinaca sativa urens, while the normal subspecies is P.s. sativa) that has recently gained in numbers, and that can be quite phototoxic too. I don't know ho you can see the difference between the 2 different subspecies of Pastinaca sativa though.
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Post by mjc on Apr 21, 2014 12:48:28 GMT -5
I don't know ho you can see the difference between the 2 different subspecies of Pastinaca sativa though. What's with that...if there are so little differences, why aren't they breeds or varieties? This breaking everything into smaller and smaller subspecies is ridiculous. |
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Post by oxbowfarm on Apr 21, 2014 21:26:09 GMT -5
It's interesting that we don't have wild parsnip weeds like we have Queen Anne's Lace.
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Post by 12540dumont on Apr 21, 2014 21:44:40 GMT -5
A few years ago, Leo sowed the thousands and thousands of parsnip seeds I saved into the area that the chickens have been summered every year (this was before the mountain lion figured this out). Anyway, there were tons of parsnips out there in the winter, but sadly by summer they disappeared. Too dry? By the way, the parsnips from across the pond from Mendlania are doing great. I'll post a photo on my blog.
HG new photo posting sucks. (R u listening?) Sucks. Time to change the vacuum bag.
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Post by templeton on Apr 22, 2014 17:13:09 GMT -5
I'll post a photo on my blog. Where's your blog, holly? T |
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Post by bunkie on Apr 23, 2014 12:24:12 GMT -5
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Post by templeton on Apr 24, 2014 2:57:24 GMT -5
Thanks, B. Bookmarked.
T
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VicJ
gopher
Posts: 6 
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Post by VicJ on May 6, 2014 17:28:34 GMT -5
I found a big patch of feral parsnips thriving in Manley Hot Springs, way up here in interior Alaska. It was in front of the springs, so the ground no doubt stays warmer, but I have had parsnips that I missed overwinter in the garden here in Fairbanks. I left some in the ground purposely this year to see how reliable that is. I collected some of the Manley seeds, but never planted them. Should make another trip up there; could use a soak in the healing waters anyhow. Last time I was up there I found some wild stinging nettles too. It was funny because I didn't even know they grew up here and had just planted seeds I bought. There I was fishing for pike when nature's call came; good thing I didn't squat a little further over. None of the ones from seed survived, but the Manley strain remains unfazed after two winters.
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