Another look at parsley

Flower & Garden Magazine, August-Sept, 1995 by Brenda Ramponi

These Days Everyone Seems To be into the exotic when it comes to herbs and spices. Words like cumin and fenugreek are on everyone's lips and there are recipes for such unusual fare as coriander cookies and cilantro salsas. Although I like to try new things too, I think it's time to take another look at an old favorite: parsley.

It's no wonder that garden parsley, Petroselinum crispum, has always been popular, for this little green jewel has many culinary uses and is highly ornamental as well. Growing in a tight rosette of curly, brilliantly green leaves, this plant is so decorative it can be used as an edging for a formal border. The plant is biennial, wintering over and forming a flowering seed stalk the second season, with flowers similar to dill. Allowed to go to seed, the plant will readily self-sow, providing gardeners with a plentiful and continuous harvest. Seeds of many different cultivars are available from mail-order sources.

Another kind of parsley, the Italian flat leaf, features flat leaves, grows taller and has a stronger flavor. Many cooks swear by this variety as the choice for cooking.

A lot of folklore is attached to the cultivation of this plant. A favorite tale claims that parsley seed must go down to the devil and back seven times before it will come up, no doubt because the seeds are notoriously slow to germinate.

My secret to successful germination of parsley is to start the plants inside. After soaking seeds overnight, I sow them in individual cups on a cool sunny window for a few days, and then introduce bottom heat. When the true leaves appear, I add a dilute solution of seedling fertilizer to speed growth. Before the seedlings become too leggy in midspring, I set the plants out in a sunny part of the garden in rich, loose loam. The parsley seed may also be sown directly in the garden, but in that case, be sure to wait until the soil has warmed up. The seed will germinate in 10 to 14 days. After the seedlings are up, thin carefully to space the plants 6 to 8 inches apart.

Parsley is a must for herb gardens, but it is also excellent as a pot herb and even for adding a decorative yet edible element to non-traditional window box plantings. In my garden, however, it usually goes in as a border plant because it is so pretty. Additionally, this position makes for easier harvesting during the season.

Although continuous harvest will encourage new growth, many gardeners guarantee an even more plentiful supply into fall and winter with a midsummer planting. Cold frames, cloches or plastic-covered tunnels are ideal, of course, but in protected microclimates the parsley will also remain green through the winter. Often, during winter garden walks, I find a little mass of green under the snow. The frozen leaves are suprisingly usable after thawing, which is especially nice during those years when I don't get around to putting up a proper harvest.

Storing parsley is easy. Although most gardeners prefer to cut just what they need for cooking, any leftovers may be washed, wrapped in paper towels and stored in the refrigerator for several days. For longer storage, simply freeze the parsley on cookie sheets, then transfer the sprigs to freezer containers. Alternately, prepare the parsley for storage by drying it in a dehydrator, in an oven set on the lowest setting with the door left ajar or by air drying. By all methods, the parsley is dry when it is brittle and crumbles easily between the fingers.

Cookbooks generally offer more suggestions for using parsley than any other herb. It is especially delicious in sauces, vegetable and egg dishes, soups and marinades. Parsley is also one of the ingredients in the classic bouquet garni -- two sprigs each of parsley and thyme and a bay leaf tied in a bundle -- used to flavor stock, stews, soups and sauces.

Containing many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A and C, calcium and riboflavin, parsley is a healthy addition to your diet as well as a tasty green. Why not take another look at parsley? Put some in your garden soon.