Now is the time to sow parsley seeds. I have bought a seed tray, I have compost in the shed and I'm ready to plant them. Parsley takes a notoriously long time to germinate. I expect to have a surfeit of seedlings that I'll pot up and give to friends.
Everyone likes parsley. Not only does it add appeal to a cooked dish, it is bursting full of vitamins and minerals and keeps on growing until the autumn.
I managed to keep parsley alive for its two-year lifespan in a pot on my windowsill once and generally had enough to use when needed. No parsley now, but I have a pot of mint still alive, which is the only thing that has survived the rigors of this winter.
Post by happytraveller on Feb 5, 2009 11:46:52 GMT
I always grow herbs in summer. I have to keep them in pots though as my yard is too small. I grow rosmary, parsley, chives, oregano, basil and this, I dunno what it's called in english.
There's nothing better than a risotto with a big hand full of chopped herbs thrown in.
Lovage needs an extended, hard cold season to thrive, Casimira. You can just forget about it!
The traditional time for planting parsley is Good Friday, why, I know not. There's the saying that it takes so long to germinate because it has to go to the devil and return three times. I suspect these Christian-related superstitions are outgrowths of something much older.
On a practical basis, here is a good tip for germinating parsley: put the seeds you're going to use in a shallow dish & pour hot -- almost boiling -- water over them. When the water is cool, pour it all off, then plant the seeds.
Whenever you soak any seeds, get rid of the soaking water. It contains anti-sprouting elements that occur on the seed naturally. If you pour that water on the place you've planted the seeds, you are undoing what you did with the soaking period.
Welle, basil isn't very happy below 45°F/8°C. It could have dipped below that one night long enough to do in the basil. Also, I've had basil from nurseries -- not started by me from seed -- just up & die for no reason I could determine.
That might have been it-it did get cold earlier in the winter for a couple of nights.
And yeah, I did not grow them myself but bought the plants in a pot in a grocery store. My plants tend to have to fend for themselves, maybe they missed the fertilizer.
My grandmother told me there was an Irish priest in our town who grow beautiful roses. Whenever anyone asked him for the secret, he would tell them the usual stuff about deep watering, manure, etc. Then she caught him one day cursing them in Gaelic.
I think I had fennel growing in my garden last season. I took a packet of mixed herb seeds and planted them in a flower bed that I had not yet decided what to plant in, so i threw this packet ofseeds and had tons of different herbs, being the retard that I am, I really hardly knew one from the other.
*I know I am not a retard, but sometimes it feels like that as I learn to grow my own veggies and herbs.
"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." [br]— Nelson Mandela
You must have a green thumb! I hope some of those herbs reseeded themselves.
I like the taste & look of fennel. I had an herb gardening friend with exquisite taste who used to grow yellow-gold colored calendula together with bronze fennel. Talk about a great combination of colors and textures!
Ah, caledula, I haven't got that in my garden here, used to have it in our prevoius home. That combination sounds very pretty.
Calendula is very good for skin ailments as well. I used to soak the leaves in alcohol for extended periods and add it to a base cream, wonderful for almost any skin condition.
"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." [br]— Nelson Mandela
Yeah -- I actually pulled up lots of rocket & put it in the compost. I think the reseeded stuff is more robust than the original plants from seed -- like it's acclimated or something.
Whenever my grandmother got basil from the garden, she'd take whatever excess there was after seasoning the food & stuff it into little plastic medicine bottles. Then, in the winter time she always had some fairly fresh-tasting basil to use.
Likewise welle. I do grow the bronze fennel for the the Black Swallowtail butterfly as it is one of their larval foods.(as is dill,parsley and members of the carrot family).
;D Yesterday I picked up a load of herbs from someone on the exchange website I'm on. I got exciting stuff like lemon verbena and a curry bush. I thought I was getting curry leaf but it looks totally different.
I'm intrigued! I grew curry bush when I lived in the US and loved it for its looks & smell, although it's not worth much as a culinary herb. I know the one I grew was Helichrysum italicum (photo: toptropicals.com/pics/garden/m1/raznozvet2/Helichrysum_italicum3592.jpg), but by googling I find that a relative of St. John's wort, Hypericum revolutum is also called curry bush (photo: www.worldbotanical.com/images/Hypericum_revolutum-3199-fl.jpg). The first is a native of the Mediterranean region, the second an African native. Which one did you get?
Yes it is a Helichrysum italicum. She told me curry leaf on the email!! Was right confused when I went to get the herbs, but I understand from googling that it doesn't transmit much flavour. But it look nice in my new patio area.
It's now approximately 10 weeks since I sowed my parsley seeds in a seed tray. Hundreds germinated. This week I planted out 48 seedlings which show their first 'true' leaves. Unfortunately there was a mighty thunder storm yesterday and rain came down in sheets followed by huge hailstones. My little seedlings are unbowed but their compost is soaking. I hope it dries out in the sun or they will rot. When I transplanted them I noticed how very long their roots were....far more developed (of course) than their leaves.
Yaaay, you, Spindrift! I think the soaking compost is a good thing, since your little guys are so recently transplanted. They should develop bunches of feeder roots quite quickly.