I’m growing flat-leafed parsley this year in a flower border (not in my vegetable garden). The herb was given to me by a friend (I love swapping plants!). It’s one of my favourite herbs, along with rosemary and thyme (I’m not fussed about sage!). I also live near Scarborough (you see where I’m going with this?)!
What is Parsley?
Parsley is native to the Mediterranean area and is a biennial, herbaceous plant. In other words, it takes two years to complete its biological life cycle and its leaves die back at the end of the season!
In the first year, the plant forms a circular arrangement of leaves (a rosette) and has loads of leaflets. A tap root helps the herb to store food over the Winter.
In the second year, the plant flowers on the stem (which can be up to about 75cm tall). The flowers are a yellow-green colour.
The seeds are an oval shape and are roughly 2-3mm in length. My parsley plant is starting to die off as the seeds have already matured. The cycle of life and all that stuff!
Grow Parsley
Parsley likes moist, well drained, soil and lots of sunshine. If you grow it from seed, germination takes roughly 4-6 weeks and the seeds should be spaced about 10cm apart.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC0adlCvsyU
Parsley works well as a companion plant and can help to protect nearby plants from being destroyed by insects and flies. It works well protecting tomatoes as the wasps that damage tomatoes are attracted to the nectar from the parsley plant. Also, the tomato moth gets confused by the strong odour of parsley and, hopefully, leaves your precious toms alone!
This year, I’ve noticed lots of goldfinches feeding on parsley seeds and bees seem to like the plant as well.
Benefits of Parsley
Parsley contains apigenin which has strong anti-cancer properties and stops new blood vessels forming that might otherwise feed a tumour.
An extract made from the seeds can help to lower blood pressure. It also contains loads of vitamin C, K, B and also has iron.
It’s use as a medicinal and culinary herb goes back to 1376 when ‘persely’ is mentioned by William Langland in ‘Piers Plowman’. Seems like it’s always been a healthy food!
Parsley Recipes
If you’re wanting to cook with this herb, here’s a tasty Parsley and Chive Baked Potato Recipe, courtesy of Betty’s Kitchen.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_7W7QHsvnU
Here’s the recipe in written form:
For one potato, you’ll need:
- 1 large baking potato
- 2 tablespoons of softened butter
- 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon of chopped chives
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
How to Cook:
- Slice the potato lengthwise into 4 equally-sized slices and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of softened butter, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped chives, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Stir until smooth.
- Spread this mixture between the 4 potato slices and reassemble the potato, scraping any excess filling from the outside.
- Place on a large square of aluminum foil and wrap the foil tightly around the potato, leaving any open edges toward the top.
- Place in a small baking dish and bake at about 400 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes (it depends on the size of the potato).
- Remove the potato from the oven and place on a serving dish. Open the aluminum foil and bin it.
There you go… very tasty!
Varieties of Parsley
Leaf Parsley
Parsley comes as curly leafed or flat leafed (my variety) and the latter is very easy to grow. It tolerates rain and sun and has quite a strong flavour (I used it in a paella dish and it was great!).
Root Parsley
This variety (‘Hamburg Root Parsley’) looks a little like a parsnip and has thicker roots. It’s not common here in the UK (or the States) but it’s used a lot in Central and Eastern Europe where it can be found in various soup and stew dishes.
So, give parsley a try… it’s got lots of uses and is very easy to grow.
Alan
