Parsley

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.