All gardeners know there old saying about parsnips - " first in, last out"! So here we are enjoying the true Autumn harvest which virtually clears the garden now - just some lovely beetroot left. The weather has been kind but this year's parsnips came with a heavy burden of weeds after the poor germination in our hot dusty spring. Just half the crop we had last year but 21 bags is a nice treat to look forward to - roasted with a tasty joint of meat.

It took me a couple of hours to harvest these - big trenching spade needed to lever out the deep roots - and another 2 hours to peel, blanch and bag. All done now - hurrah!