Tips for Growing Parsley
Parsley, also known as Petroselinum crispum is a plant that has a life cycle of two years. Its popular curled variety is most recognizable as a fresh garnish for American food. Even the sprigs from growing parsley can be eaten, and can add a nice flavor to soups, main meals, and especially salads.
In Medieval times, hungry people placed parsley on the tables and around their necks to absorb food odors. This practice leaves you to wonder exactly what they were eating. Parsley was even used as an antidote for poisons. This would prove valuable to have handy for those at risk of food poisoning consuming rancid meat!
The growing parsley seed has to have high temperatures to germinate. But it could take a couple of weeks to a month for the leaves to begin to sprout. Soak the seeds in warm water overnight before planting. The seeds can be kept inside the house and sewn in pots, until the seeds begin to sprout.
Plant the herbs outdoors in early spring in rows 12″ apart. Cover the bed 1/2 inch deep. Bonemeal needs to be added to the top of the soil.
The seedlings can be planted outside when they are about three inches tall. {Pick a spot for growing parsley that will receive at least six to eight hours of sunlight per day!Although parsley enjoys direct sunlight, it should only receive between 6 – 8 hours per day}. It performs best in full sun to part shade.
Provide the growing parsley with soil rich in organic matter. Follow these directions, and you’ll be rewarded with a healthy crop. If you do not have enough space, or soil conditions are poor, consider planting the herb in pots.
Growing parsley indoors requires a minimum five hours of sunlight everyday. Growing parsley should get a monthly dose of fertilizer to sustain growth through the season. Water often during the summer months to make certain the soil does not dry out. Add mulch to the soil to reduce moisture loss and prevent growing weeds. Later thin the plants to stand about six inches apart.
Parsley is an all season herb. From planting time until harvest is about twelve weeks. The plant is biennial, which indicates that is will soon start to produce seeds, thus ending its use as a herb. As for drying parsley, the leaves can be dried in the Autumn and placed in air-tight containers. Roots may be transplanted into pots for growing parsley indoors. The following spring, remove the flower stems as soon as they appear to keep the plants active.
Tips for growing parsley
To benefit its long roots, growing parsley in a deep pot is a good plan. If lightly mulched, parsley can tolerate colder temperatures.
Parsley medical uses
The herb is also full of nutritious ingredients, minerals and vitamins. Parsley can be used for relief of arthritic pain. The herb is a known diuretic used to treat the symptoms of patients with kidney and liver problems. A tea made from parsley seeds is a natural remedy for colic, and indigestion. Parsley is a well known breath freshener when chewed. It is also used to loosen phlegm for bad coughs, and has been claimed to even be used as an aphrodisiac!
When growing parsley it is important to keep the plant warm, fed regularly, and be sure to wet the bed!
You’re reward for its upkeep will be a beautiful presentation of green to put with any meal.