Thursday, April 21, 2011

how does your parsley grow?

parsley is a biennial. There are mounds of second-year parsley growing all over the garden, and when things heat up, these plants will bloom and set seed to complete their life cycle. As they bloom, bees and other nectar-feeding insects feed on the flowers, and goldfinches will eat the seeds. If you have a problem with tomato hornworms, plant parsley alongside the tomatoes because it also attracts the hornworms' predatory wasp.

In the case of tiny parsley seedlings here and there, well, those are most likely growing from seed that was set last summer -- they are in the first year of their life cycle and can be harvested as needed all summer long.


Right now though, I'm highly motivated to use the second-year parsley before the party's over -- yesterday I gathered parsley, leaf lettuce and herbs to make this salad. I think it's one of the best salads ev-er. Plus it's so green and I'm craving green.

parsley salad: wash, dry and pinch from stems 2 cups of Italian parsley leaves. Into a bowl, add a handful of mixed salad greens and a few sprigs of mint, oregano, chives, etc.; then toss in a pinch of coarse salt, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a few teaspoons of fresh lemon juice -- one at a time. Top with fresh parmegiano or cheese of your choice.


How does your parsley grow?

Also posted at Food Renegade and Grain-Free Tuesdays over at helladelicious.

6 comments:

  1. enjoy your salad and have a beautiful easterweekend.........
    XXXm

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  2. Martine, thanks, and the very same to you! xo

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  3. Mines just been planted funny enough!

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  4. Lyn -- I'm jealous, you got to work in the garden! It's raining here so I won't be out there for a few days now.

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  5. Awesome! Love your parsley and garden experiences. thanks so much for sharing with us at Grain Free tuesdays. I have planted some parsley this year. I spent last week doing a lot of gardening stuff and am way behind in blogging, but the rain has stopped here and looks like the hot sun is finally out. I got quite sunburnt on the weekend--free vitamin D overload :)

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  6. hellaD -- thanks! I love that you do Grain Free Tuesdays -- great way to find recipes that are bound to be good. I'm with ya' -- my shoulders are pretty red but dang it feels good!

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