Here are some of the well-known (and perhaps less well-known) benefits of the herb parsley:

1. Parsley contains flavonoids that act as antioxidants.
2. Parsley is rich in Vitamin C & A
3. Has anti-inflammatory properties
4. A source of folic acid
5. High in Potassium
6. Has been used to control high blood pressure
7. Good for gum health
8. Works as a natural diuretic
9. Helps strengthen the immune system
10. Contains Vitamin K (important for blood clotting)
11. Neutralizes bad breath
12. Has been used to counteract effects of poisonous insect bites (as a poultice)
13. Source of iron
14. Cleanses the blood
15. Parsley can lessen the deposits left on veins
16. Has been heard to treat temporary deafness and ear infections
17. Helps maintain blood vessels elasticity
18. Has been used as a stimulant
19. May assist with burning fat
20. High in protein
21. Assists the kidneys in eliminating waste matter
22. Source of magnesium
23. Source of calcium
24. Has been known to neutralize carcinogens
25. May help prevent certain cancers
26. May reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke
27. May reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis
28. Source of Vitamin B12
29. Helps fight bad bacteria
30. Supports the adrenal glands
31. Helps keep a liver healthy
32. Good for digestion
33. Contains essential fatty acids
34. Enriches the spleen
35. Abundant in Chlorophyll
36. Inhibits spread of bacteria and fungi
37. Relieves mucus congestion and sinusitis
38. May improve fertility
39. Supports red blood cell formation
40. Abundant source of fluorine
41. Supports healthy teeth development (combination of calcium & fluorine)
42. Enzymes which support digestion and nutrient absorption
43. May help with menopause and menstrual problems
44. Helps prevent salt being reabsorbed into body tissues
45. May help with dissolving gall stones
46. Has been used as a topical application to reduce bruising
47. Has been used to ward off malaria
48. Can help inhibit the body’s histamines
49. May increase milk supply when breastfeeding
50. Used topically to relieve the itch and sting from insect bites

With so many great benefits, why wouldn’t you want to include parsley in your own herb garden?

Disclaimer: This list has been compiled from anecdotal evidence and is not intended to provide medical knowledge in any way shape or form. Like all things, parsley should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Armed with a few pieces of handy information, growing your own parsley in your herb garden can be a simple and rewarding gardening experience.

Parsley Is Biennial

What does this mean?  Simply that the life cycle of a parsley plant takes 2 years to complete.  It’s advisable to have a continuous planting of parsley in various ages in order to ensure a plentiful and continuous supply.

When you’re originally establishing your parsley plants, it is recommended that you plant a couple of times.  Your first plants will provide foliage in the first year and then flower and set seed in the second year.

Once you have plants in various stages established, allowing them to set seed will hopefully allow your parsley plants (and therefore parsley supply) to maintain themselves.

Seed or Seedling?

Both come with their own challenges.

Parsley plant roots can be a little sensitive to transplant so extra care needs to be taken if planting out seedlings.

Parsley seeds have a very hard outer casing and so if growing from seed (my preferred method from a cost point of view), you can soak the seeds first to encourage germination.

Grow in a sunny position where it can receive 6-8 hours of light per day.

If growing in a pot, ensure you have a depth of around 8 inches (20cm) to allow for the long root of the parsley plant.

Types of Parsley

1.  Curled Leaf Parsley

Like that in the picture above, curled leaf parsley is often considered the most popular form of parsley.  It is commonly used as a garnish.

2.  Flat Leaf Parsley

Flat Leaf Parsley tends to have a stronger flavour than curly leaf and is therefore popular to flavour dishes.  This is sometimes referred to as Italian Parsley.

3.  Hamburg Parsley

Grown for it’s long tap root which is used to flavour soups and stews.

Harvesting Your Parsley

Take cuttings from the outside of the plant.

Cutting your parsley will encourage more growth, particularly if stalks are trimmed as well as the leafy growth at the top of the plant.

Storing Parsley

As with all plants, parsley is best used fresh from the plant to the dish you are preparing.  In many climates you can have parsley plants growing year round.

However, if you have more parsley than you can use or don’t have success with growing parsley year round, you can harvest and store it for future use.

1.  Drying

A common way to store herbs is to dry them.  Without moisture, the plant will not spoil and keep for quite a long time.

To dry, harvest with a longish stalk and hang in a protected place.

Alternatively, chop your parsley and dry in a dehydrator or slow oven.

2.  Freezing

Parsley will freeze well.  Chop before freezing then flash freeze spread out on a tray.  The frozen parsley can then be bagged up and used upon as needed.

Alternatively, freeze the entire stalk and use as needed direct from freezer.

Coming Soon: Benefits and Uses for Parsley

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If you’re not an experienced gardener, parsley is a great herb to start your herb garden with.

What’s So Great About Parsley?

1. You Can’t Kill It.

Especially if you actually WANT to.

2. If you do kill it, it’ll come back somewhere, sometime.

I lost my entire parsley crop in a severe heat wave one time and yet some weeks later, new shoots of parsley appeared in the pot. I was stunned. If you allow some of your plants to go to seed then you’ll get new parsley plants coming up.

3. A little bit goes a long way.

For most dishes, I don’t need huge amounts of parsley. Once cut up, it’s amazing how far a small amount of parsley can go, either as a garnish or to flavour dishes.

4. It’ll grow faster than you can eat it.

Once established, I find parsley will grow quicker than we can consume it. Of course, if you have a larger farmily and use quite a bit of it, a couple of plants is recommended.

5. It’s the kind of herb that goes with EVERYTHING!!!

Okay, I’ve never tried it with ice cream but it goes with most things.

6. Even fussy, “plain” eaters will tolerate at least a little parsley in dishes.

It’s flavour isn’t hugely over-powering. My children can be a bit fussy at times but will tolerate parsley in most dishes.

7. It has a decent amount of iron in it.

(and won’t clog up your back end like those nasty iron tablets do)

8. Parsley is high in antioxidants

Flavonoids in parsley combine with oxygen radicals which helps to prevent oxygen-based damage to cells.

9. Cleanse Your Palate

In addition to it’s many health benefits, parsley has been known to cleanse the palate and reduce strong food odors in the breath.

Coming Up: Tips For Growing Parsley in Your Herb Garden

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There are many great reasons to grow your own herb garden.  These 5 are my favourite.

1.  Freshness

With the way our markets work these days, purchasing herbs that are “freshly picked” is nigh on impossible.  Those you purchase in the grocery store are likely to be days (if not weeks) old and even buying direct from a Farmer’s Market, your herbs are likely to be at least 12 hours old by the time you use them.

Growing your own gives new meaning to the words “freshly picked”.  It can be literally minutes from the plant to your pot.  The way that vegetables begin losing flavour and nutrients almost as soon as they are picked, those minutes are going to give you a MUCH higher benefit than the hours, days or weeks of those that are purchased.

2.  Quality

If you grow your own then you know exactly what has been added to your herbs in the way of pesticides and other chemicals.

Mass produced plants are often lacking in the quality that can be gained from smaller, well-loved gardens.

3.  Taste

It’s a well-known fact that homegrown tastes better.  This is especially true with fresh herbs.

4.  Convenience

There is nothing simpler than being able to pick a few herbs as you need them.  No forward planning or running to the store last minute.  Not all stores keep fresh herbs either so if you prefer to use fresh (as opposed to dry) then having them growing at home is a wonderful way to keep them available when needed.

5.  Cost

Herbs are easy and inexpensive to grow.  In contrast, fresh herbs can be quite EXPENSIVE to buy and wastage is common.  Growing your own can be a great way to save yourself a few dollars at the grocery store.

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A potted herb garden is the perfect way to grow herbs.  You can move your herb garden around and even place it indoors during inclement weather conditions. Pots can be placed closer to the kitchen (as close as in the kitchen window if you like) and a pot will also contain the herb (some herbs are great at taking over the entire garden bed if you let them).

It’s also a great way to make use of space in a variety of places that a regular garden bed may not be possible.

Herbs that do well in pots include basil, sage, dill, mint and lavendar.� I also prefer to grow parsley in a pot.

As with any gardening done in pots, the most important 2 factors are:

1.� Good quality potting soil

2.� Keep the soil moist (it doesn’t have the same ability to cope with dry conditions that a regular garden bed has).

There is nothing more satisfying than adding your own freshly grown herbs to your cooking!

Why not start your own potted herb garden today?

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