Parsley Root

If you have never had parsley root you can find it at Hiller's and at Meijer.  It looks like a small white carrot and is sold with the greens still attached.  Eliot Coleman says you can eat the greens as you would parsley though I never have.  The roots kind of taste like parsley in the same way celeriac tastes like celery.

It's not cheap. A bunch of 3 or 4 roots costs $2 or more.  If you like it, the cost makes it well worth while to grow.

Fedco sells a packet of 'Arat' for $1.90.  You can also get an older variety called 'Hamburg' from J.L. Hudson Seeds (no connection to the old department store) for $1.50 per packet. Both are open pollinated. The Fedco catalog says, "Enhance your soups and specialty dishes with these nutty-flavored roots redolent of a parsley-celery combination".  Fedco claims Arat is sweeter and more uniform than Hamburg.

You grow parsley root about the same as you grow carrots.  The soil should be deeply worked and mostly free of stones.   Sow the seed about the same as you would carrots, about a half inch deep and a half inch apart.  Once they come up thin them to an inch apart.  Mulch to keep down weeds and maintain even moisture.

Seeds sown in spring will be ready to harvest in September.  You can also sow more up to maybe mid-summer and harvest them later in the fall.  With a bit of protection (this year's snow would have taken care of that) you can leave them in the ground until spring.