Lest we get confused with Chinese Parsley, which tastes like celery, these so-called “Western” Parsley are Curly leaf (English) and Italian Flat Leaf Parsley.
As this herb is a biennial, meaning it will bolt (flower) in the second year and then died, we much preferred growing them from seeds than buying from the nursery.
This way, we know how long we can harvest from our plants before the need to sow new seeds.
CURLY LEAF PARSLEY (2015)
GERMINATION NOTES
Unusual as it seems, we soaked these seeds in a market fish rinse water overnight before sowing, after a few unsuccessful attempts.
Thank goodness, there was no lingering fish smell that attracts ants and flies.
1 week old Curly on the left corner with rosemary in this pot.
This pot had only one curly parsley plant.
They can be huge.
Best plant one in each medium-size pot only.
Curly Leaf Parsley is pretty looking and commonly used for garnish.
Its flavor is quite mild compared to the Italian Flat Leaf.
FLAT LEAF PARSLEY
GERMINATION NOTES
Pretty easy, sowed in very wet medium, using kale’s method.
The first sprout was spotted in 2 days.
Sowed them in very wet soil over other media for better germination results.
A new batch of seeds began for the Year 2020 as our plants will be approaching their biennial soon.
TIP – The best environment is moist and breezy
It was observed they do not like to be in direct sun at this stage.
These seedlings grew very slowly.
Be prepared to wait for true leaves.
However, their roots were long and had extended about 2 cm in the soil.
We grow to express herbs such as Flat Leaf Parsley is an art form!
SOIL-BASED PLANTS
2019 Gardens – As we love to use these herbs in our kitchen, we continued to grow them from seeds for our gardens.
We grew them in both soil and liquid-based to compare.
Notes on Western Parsley
- Preferred cool weather, thus need to protect from hot sun or grow in partial shade
- Biennial, will flower and die in the second year (collect seeds!)
- Germination – maintain very moist medium for seeds
- Seedlings preferred slightly moist medium
- Not fussy about soil type
- Leaves and stems can be eaten
- Goes very well with roasted garlic for Italian meals such as pasta
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