Steve Mumford - Parsnips
This season is simply the best time of year to be eating delicious parsnips. Meet one of our growers, Steve Mumford from Norfolk, who with his vast experience of farming – and a little help from the birds – produces these wonderful root vegetables for Pauleys.
Light sandy soil is just one of the key elements involved in growing our delicious British parsnips. It has excellent drainage properties, encouraging long straight parsnips as they grow down towards the water. The Brecklands area of Norfolk provides the perfect soil type and ideal climate, as it's situated near to the coast, and benefits from mild weather conditions.
The farmland has been used to grow parsnips for 70 years. Farm Manager Steve Mumford’s devotion and 20 years of farming experience mean he is expertly suited to grow fantastic quality parsnips. Steve’s responsibilities are not just focused on parsnip growing; he is also closely involved with the RSPB. The Brecklands is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is favoured by ground-nesting lapwings and stone curlews, both examples of Britain’s most endangered birds.
A full-time RSPB warden works on the estate together with the farm workers to ensure minimum disruption to the birds during the harvesting season. The warden identifies nest locations and informs the harvesters to drive around these areas. This impressive dedication towards avoiding disruption to the birds has resulted in a significant increase in their numbers (numbers of the birds in other areas of the UK are declining).
One thousand acres of farmland are used to produce 18,000 tonnes of parsnips. Planting of the crops takes place from January to mid-May, with harvesting of the parsnips occurring between mid-July and mid-May. They take approximately 5 to 6 months to grow, depending on the weather conditions, as extremely cold or wet weather can slow the growing process. Weekly samples are taken of the crop to monitor the growth progression in each field and once picked, they are immediately washed, graded, packed and transported to Pauleys – guaranteeing optimum freshness.
Steve truly loves his role and enjoys being outside and close to nature. His favourite way of enjoying parsnips after a hard day on the farm is to simply “roast in the oven with a drizzle of honey over the top – beautiful”.
