I've been growing parsnips for the past few years, and will again. They are great in soups and stews, with pot or oven roasts. I like them roasted with other winter vegetables, and simmered and served mostly plain. I havn't had trouble getting them to germinate, but it does take a long time. The seeds aren't very strong, so, like carrots, I have to make sure that the soil doesn't crust over before they come up. Fortunately, I haven't found a weed that looks anything like a parsnip, so I don't worry about pulling the wrong plant. I've had a little loss from worms, but not as bad as with my turnips and rutabagas. One year a woodchuck tried to keep the tops mowed down, but not any more
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The long growing season worried me a bit, as I live in northern NH. Last year we had 19 degrees on September 7. Parsnips don't much care. Like other roots, they don't really ripen, so if your season is too short, you just get small parsnips. The worst thing I did the first year was harvest too soon. My first home grown parsnips tasted like paste. They really benefit from a good hard frost or several. The freezing converts starch to sugar. Now I know. I usually dig half my crop just as the ground is crusting over in the fall, and the other half as soon as I can dig in the spring. That's a real treat: garden fresh vegetables in April. The spring harvest doesn't keep as well as the fall, but I can usually find a few people who will accept them as gifts.
I have been planting Hollow Crown, and will try All American also this year.
Good Luck
