Greens & herbs
Parsley
Start 8 wk.
- Indoors
- 8 wk (Mar)
- Outside
- Transplant in May
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun or part shade
- Water
- Even moisture; goes tough if it dries out
- Harvest
- Jun to Nov, cut outer stems
Care
- Water
- Give it even moisture with the finger test, a deep soak once the top inch dries. Not a dry-side herb, but not a bog plant either. Starved of water it does not wilt for show; it simply stops growing and the leaves turn tough.
- Sow
- Start in inch cells, a few seeds each, a quarter inch deep, and soak the seed overnight first to even out the sprouting. Set plants a foot apart when they go outside. Direct sowing works too but drags even more.
- Start inside
- Parsley can take 2 to 3 weeks to break ground, sometimes longer. Room temperature suits it, though a mat near 70F nudges it faster. Sow in March, 8 weeks before a May move out; it takes cool nights fine.
- Feed
- An easygoing feeder: a shovel of compost or castings at transplant, then a side-dress of more compost or a fish and seaweed drink once or twice across the season if the color fades. Nothing heavy is called for.
- Ready
- Snap the outer stems off at the base whenever you cook, working around the ring so the middle keeps pushing fresh growth into hard frost. Pull and replace in year two, when it flowers instead of leafing out.
- Trouble
- Small dark, yellow-ringed spots: Septoria leaf spot in humid weather, strip the affected leaves, water low, and rotate the bed. Black swallowtail caterpillars: leave them and plant one extra. A patchy stand usually traces to that slow, uneven sprouting.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 3–5 gal bag.
- Water
- A bag dries faster than a bed, so water more often to hold even moisture, up to daily in high summer. A quick 15 to 20 sec on the shower dial.
- Sow
- One or two plants per 3 to 5 gallon bag, a foot apart, moved out as stocky seedlings.
Started under lights in March, parsley holds the herb bed's center from June to November without drama or days off. Flat-leaf for the knife, and enough of it to cut by the fistful.
Growing
Sow indoors in March, eight weeks ahead, and be patient: parsley germinates over two to three slow weeks, and an overnight soak shortens the sulk. Transplant in May a foot apart, then harvest outer stems at the base all season while the center keeps producing into hard frost. It is a biennial, so second-year plants return only to flower; start fresh ones every spring and let the veterans flower for the little parasitic wasps that patrol the garden. Water evenly through dry spells; a droughted plant stalls and coarsens rather than dying, and it is slow to forgive.
Varieties
Giant of Italy is the flat-leaf workhorse with real stem and flavor; Moss Curled exists for garnish loyalists.
Pests
The black swallowtail lays on parsley, and the striped caterpillars that follow become the butterfly the flower row was hoping for; plant one extra and reassign the caterpillars rather than evict them. Nothing else does real damage.
In the kitchen
Gremolata, chimichurri, tabbouleh: the recipes where parsley is the point rather than the decoration. Stems go in the stock bag.