Parsnip · Norfolk, Virginia, United States
When to plant parsnips in Norfolk
Main outdoor window
24 Feb - 17 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
10 March
In Norfolk, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
4 Jun - 4 Jul
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Norfolk
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Sow direct
24 Feb - 17 Mar
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
4 Jun - 4 Jul
Parsnips through the year
Against the frost risk in Norfolk
Why these dates
Sow fresh seed - parsnip seed loses viability within a year. Germination takes up to four weeks, so sow into a weed-free bed you can leave alone.
Deliberately harvested after frost, which converts starch to sugar. Roots survive -15C in the ground and can be lifted all winter.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Parsnips are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Norfolk.
The median frost-free season here is 272 days, against 100 to 130 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Norfolk
Other vegetables to time
Growing parsnips in Norfolk
When should I plant parsnips in Norfolk?
Aim for 24 Feb - 17 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 14 Mar - 4 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will parsnips be ready to harvest in Norfolk?
Expect to start picking around 4 Jun - 4 Jul, based on 100 to 130 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will parsnips tolerate?
Deliberately harvested after frost, which converts starch to sugar. Roots survive -15C in the ground and can be lifted all winter.