How to Grow Parsley - Persil

Parsley is such a simple herb to plant from seed, in your garden and in containers for easy picking. Eat powerful parsley to prevent and fight cancers with its antioxidants and flavonoid Apigenin.

Parsley Packet Information

Champion Curled Seed

• A delightful garnish with excellent flavor
• Gres bon gout et fait une belle garniture
• Sow: in mid spring

How to Grow

Make a furrow about 6 mm (¼ inch) deep at least 50 cm (18 inches) from next row in garden. Sow thinly in furrow and cover with fine soil.

Germination: May be slow and irregular, depending on heat and moisture.

Thin: 10 cm (4 inches apart.)

For winter: Grow two or three plants in pots on a window sill

In Praise of Simple Parsley - quotes

“Parsley will enhance almost any dish you care to mention, from the blandest poultry to the most spicy sausage. Its great virtue is that it never overpowers the natural taste of food, just brings it out more fully. John Seymour (1914 - 2004)

“Parsley (Petroselinum Sativum) is the common garden parsley. The ancients prized it as a medicinal. Today science is rediscovering it as one of the most valuable of all herbs. It contains 22,500 units of Vitamin A. In this war (1939 - ) carrots are given to flyers to overcome night blindness because they contain 1,275 units of Vitamin A to the ounce. How much more effective would be parsley! Again parsley is the third richest known source of Vitamin C ......parsley is the richest known of all vegetables in iron ...... it is rich in chlorophyll.” Claudia V. James (1949)

Information

1. Parsley thrives in containers
2. It is Biennial – but plant every year
3. Varieties found – e.g. Perfection, Italian, Hamburg, Extra Curled, Laura, Pinocchio, Giant, Champion Moss, Forest Green
4. Likes to grow with and stimulates tomatoes and corn (I always grow it with my tomatoes both in the garden and in containers)
5. Can be slow to seed
6. Easy to grow (loves humus)
7. Parsnip rooted parsley (Hamburg) is great in soups and stews
8. Loves lots of sunshine to grow
9. Pick often to encourage growth
10. Easy to dry when mature in a food dehydrator
11. High in vitamins & minerals
12. Spring is a good time to seed cold-hardy parsley in the West Coast

Medicinal (Possible) Benefits

• Great for digestion (relieves gas)
• A natural diuretic
• Helps clear congestion
• Soothing for asthma
• Breath freshener
• Menstrual disorders
• Urinary tract infections
• Note: pregnant women should not take parsley juice or oil

There are many (almost endless) uses and recipes for parsley for you to try. I always let one plant go to seed in the garden each year, and the following spring am always happy to find 'baby' parsley growing in other parts of my garden. I usually transplant or pot the new parsley when this happens. Really an old and versatile favourite to include fresh daily on your menu!

Some links added (2019) with updated news on benefits of parsley.

Links and References

• US FDA database nutrition data on parsley packed with Vitamins A, C & K & minerals (*)
• 2015 study Parsley Fights Cancer
• Apigenin: A Promising Molecule for Cancer prevention from US National Institute of Health (*)
• Home Gardener Parsley seed packet (Home Hardware Canada)
• The Self-Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour 1980 (Dolphin Books)
• The Postage Stamp Garden Book by Duane Newcomb 1975 (Houghton Mifflin)
• The Green Thumb book of Fruit and Vegetable Gardening by George Abraham 1970 (Prentice-Hall)
• Canadian Spice Manual and Cookbook by Canadian Spice Association
• Herb Bible by Earl Mindell R.Ph., Ph.D. 1992 (Simon and Schuster)
• Herbs and the Fountain of Youth by Claudia V. James 1949 Amrita Books
• Some links added after published date