Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa)are root vegetables similar to carrots, which they resemble except for being lighter in colour. They were widely cultivated across Europe since ancient times. They would not, however, have been likely to grow well on Santorini, as they require frosty nights to develop properly.

My original script for this strip used turnips (Brassica rapa) rather than parsnips, which have also been grown for millennia in Europe. But I got mixed up with the shapes and used a conical Lego piece rather than a spherical one which would have better represented a turnip. And I just felt too damn lazy to reshoot the photos when I was compositing them into the strip and realised my error, so I just changed the vegetable.

Oh, what's that? You didn't get the joke and came looking here for an explanation? I know that normally I do that, but this time I'm just going to provide you with the tools to research it yourself. Research is good for you!

And then you can blame Casey & Andy's Andy Weir for the pun. As much as I'd like to take credit for this one myself, he gave me the idea.