Owning a house in true countryside of Poland - stories

My wifes village is deep in the countryside somewhere in the boon docks there was a brit living with his wife,the border guards came to there house arrested him and deported him(maybe cuz he never applied for a residence permit).I see brits being handcuffed and deported to the uk all the time on Warsaw airport,from the area where all flights are leaving for outside of Schengen.

@gumishu
I do that with leeks as well. A clamp helps protect root veg from the frost there is nothing worse than loosing all your spuds.

@Feniks
I also googled clamp a few years back and was surprised to find it has Dutch roots. The reason I searched was that I always thought it was an Irish thing also discovered that scallion is not Irish either :(

This sounds familiar - my grandma used to do that - she would put potatos in the dirt in part of the yard and covered the clamp with straw, if I remember right. I remember how we were helping her to uncover it and we were digging for those potatos :)


It doesn't look to me like there's a clamp in the photo though... 🤔

I agree it doesn't but he could be learning :)

Exactly! except that I didn`t want to save it from cold etc but from getting stale while being stored in boxes in the basement. So I left them in the field for winter and now dig up when necessary.

Let me remind you what I did before
https://polishforums.com/life/poland-owning-house-true-countryside-84664/7/#msg1712640

And see what I do now

Can you recognise the veg in the ground? It isn`t carrots but small.......

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Used to but I invented a new way. Ha!


I planted potatoes for winter last autumn after seeing in previous years how the potatoes I had overlooked during harvest stayed in the ground for winter and gave excellent crops next year . It is perfectly feasable that they survive. In Russia they do it every year. :):):)


Exactly! Through annual practice and clever deduction, I learned last year that one doesn`t need to store veg in a clamp or cold basement but can keep them in the ground and collect when needed. :):)

I left the following veg in the ground:

for winter use

celery
carrot
turnip
kolhrabi
leek
collard

potatoes and garlic for next years` crop

All of them are doing fine even though the temp dropped to minus 18 provided they are hidden in the ground. Kohlrabi which grows above the ground got a bit frozen but is still edible and palatable. Collard is completely resistant to freezing temps.

I see. Good that everything survived :)


Parsnips? Although these days I don't think they're that popular in Poland.

Or anywhere.....sweet potatoes...yuk!

It is used regularly in soups, potato salad

IME parsley root is used in soups and salads in Poland which is not the same as parsnip (pasternak)

I always thought parsley is the green part while parsnip is the root part?

pasternak and pietruszka look very similar which may have lead to the mistranslation of parsley root as parsnip (found in some dictionaries I think) but they are different plants and have different tastes (similar but distinct).

In Europe, AFAICT, many or most countries have one or the other but not both.

Often called Hamburg Parsley.

You're right. Pietruszka doesn't really exist in Western Europe, just as Parsnip isn't in the shops in Poland, even in Warsaw. My neighbour (who's a keen cook and watches British cookery programmes on cable TV) asked me to bring some parsnips from a visit back; she'd never seen them.

In Poland, I've used pietruszka instead of parsnip for baking whole and it works reasonably well, however in a stew, it's best to use smaller amounts of pietruszka due to the more bitter taste (most recipes that include pietruszka use it in smaller amounts).

Parsnip does grow well in Poland though most people have never seen it, just as most Brits have never seen pietruszka.

It probably isn't even Parsnip! According to this article they're more widely available than people think:

culture.pl/en/article/forgotten-polish-super-veggies

But a friend of mine told me that they're more commonly used as animal feed than for eating. It wouldn't surprise me if it's something Pawian grows as he does tend to grow more a wide range of veggies.

Yes. The same with swede (brukiew). Worth mentioning that the varieties grown for animal feed are optimised for that and the varieties grown for the kitchen are likewise optimised for that. If you buy a sack of brukiew from Allegro wanting to use it in the kitchen, you'll be disappointed.

I often use pietruszka in recipies (like pasties) in place of swede.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Makes me wonder why Poles don't eat parsnips and swede. I'm guessing turnips don't go down well either although I know Pawian grows them.

If, by swede you mean 'rutabaga' then Poles are convinced that, like turnips, they cause digestive problems (maybe domestic varieties do...)

I think they were also eaten during after WWII so they may have been classified as poverty food that people avoid when times are better (the elderly mother of one friend of mine won't touch rabbit for that reason).

In the US I used to cut rutabagas into little strips and fry them like french fries.... I also miss turnips (the white type that are purple at the top)...

biedronkas don't have them - I would gladly prepare them for food after trying some in the UK - you can however grow your own if you have some piece of a garden plot (my grandad used to grow turnips for rabbits and nutrias that he kept)

Turnips are very nice mashed with carrots. Also parsnip works well in mashed potato. If you have time and patience to wait, you can then pop it into the oven with a few dollops of butter on top and bake it until it's all crispy and golden. Yumusz :))

Memories of my childhood there.


Parboil, toss in parmesan and flour (while still steaming) and bake. One of Delia's and always goes down a treat.


Swede? Lovely in a stew or in a pie. Turns gold. Or just braise and serve with butter and black pepper. When I do meat and tattie pie, I often put other stuff in, swede is good and pietruszka works. Sounds nice done as chips (fries) though. I remember that during the potato shortage in the mid 70s, our school dinners were making chips with sweet potato. I've hated those ever since.

Parsley, bro... Until today I did not know that Poles use the same word. Петрушка.

I'm constantly forgetting what the hell petrushka is called in English, and was shocked to see you - an Englishman - using the Polish word instead when everything else you wrote was English.

Also, have to say you write very well about food. Had no difficulties imagining it.

Hanburg Parsley (for the root). Nobody uses it in the UK though. The one cookery book I've seen it mentioned in had to explain what it was.

Parsley for us is the green herb, usually the very curly kind. The Polish kind is called Flat Leaf Parsley here and is currently fashionable.


I forgot to say, cut the parsnips lengthwise in halves or quarters.

This is true I made the rookie mistake of buying seed by picture... It didn't grow well still learning I suppose

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Nope, celeries. Never mind, it was a difficult question. :):)

As for parsnip and parsley, I try to grow both but usuallly score a failure in dry years. Last year was very dry during spring time so not even one parsley or parsnip appeared. The same two years ago.

I eat most of our veg raw coz contrary to my hair, I have kept all my teeth and still feel the need to crush hard food with them. :):) Like a dog with a bone. hahahaha

Mashing them is a sacrilege to me. :):)

Let me change the topic a little.
What`s the matter??

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I thought parsnips were a bit of a long shot but at least it kept the conversation flowing :)


I really don't like overcooked veg but raw doesn't appeal at all. Too crunchy....


Wind damage?

I need it like that.


Nope, no breakings visible. :):)

Did the weight of the snow a few days earlier cause the branches to bend? Or maybe the branches are too spindly and not strong enough to support their weight?

Yes, this was the reason.

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What was the deal on certain Saturday morning?

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