This year, I've been growing Hamburg Parsley, Salsify and Scorzonera.

I have sandy soil which unfortunately I dug compost into last winter.
The Scorzonera didn't fork at all but the other two rather porcupined!
Top flavour was from the Salsify, sometimes called the Oyster Plant
which really did taste a bit like some sort of seafood.

The Hamburg Parsley I planted in the open March and April didn't do as
well as stuff I planted in May between rows of broad beans. The stuff in
the open got motley dwarf virus (mottled leaves)

The usual method are harvesting root crops seems to be with a fork but
It didn't work well for me. What was better was a spade technique:

1. Blade vertical about 2" away from plant
2. Stand on spade and gently wiggle until it goes all the way in
3. Make 3 similar cuts on the other sides of the plant
4. Grasp the foliage close to the ground and pull slowly.
5. You get a square section of soil out with the root in the middle
6. Bash it on the ground and the solid falls away.

Probably wouldn't work on clay.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com