Digging Parsnips During The Thaw

We are having a muddy January here since we have been getting a lot of snow and rain lately and the temps are hovering above freezing in this valley.  This morning the air was thick with fog and the ground was quite spongy underfoot.  I decided to see if I could dig up some parsnips that I had left in the ground last fall.  The shovel sank deeply and easily into the muddy earth and I was rewarded with a handful of lovely parsnips.

I cleaned them up and trimmed their tops and put them into the fridge temporarily.  They will most likely be added to the hearty stew I will be having for dinner this evening.

I am happy that I am still harvesting crops from the earth even in January.  It is handy that they store so well in the cold earth and I can use them as fresh as possible even at this time of the year.  I planted these parsnips around the same time as the cabbage that they shared the bed with.  Apparently growing these two crops together doesn't seem to be detrimental to either crop.  Even though I didn't get huge yields from either crop, I still got a larger variety of food overall, so I think this experiment was a success.  I will likely be tucking parsnips into my beds here and there this year as I plant my garden.  Planting that way will allow me to get a whole other crop from a bed, but the second crop can wait to be harvested until I have time in the off season.  It doesn't take much extra effort to plant the extra crop either, and it may also lessen weed pressure, since it is filling the space that a weed would normally grow.  Seems like a win all the way around.