|
Parsley, like many other good
things, will grow almost anywhere and anyhow, but to make a
handsome crop a deep, rich, moist soil is required. It
attains to fine quality on a well-tilled clay, but the
kindly loam that suits almost every vegetable is adapted to
produce perfect Parsley, and every good garden should show a
handsome sample, for beauty is the first required
qualification. To keep the house fairly well supplied
sowings should be made in February, May, and July. The first
of these will be in gentle heat. When large enough prick out
the plants into boxes, or on to a mild hot-bed, and transfer
to the open ground at the end of April, allowing each plant
a space of one foot each way. In the open, it is best to sow
in lines one foot apart, and thin out first to three inches,
and finally to six inches, the strongest of the seedlings
being put out one foot apart. By following this plan
sufficient supplies for a small household may be obtained
from one annual sowing made in April. It should not be
overlooked that Parsley is indispensable to exhibitors of
vegetables, especially as a groundwork for collections, and
due allowance for such calls must be made in fixing the
number and extent of the sowings. When the plant pushes for
seed it becomes useless, and had best be got rid of; but by
planting at various times in different places a sufficiency
may be expected to go through a second season without
bolting, after which it will be necessary to root them out
and consign them to the rubbish-heap. Parsley is often grown
as an edging, but it is only in large gardens that this can
be done advantageously, and then a very handsome edging is
secured. In small gardens it is best to sow on a bed in
lines one foot apart, and thin out first to three inches,
and finally to six inches, the strongest of the thinnings
being planted a foot apart, to last over as proposed above.
When Parsley has stood some time it becomes coarse, but the
young growth may be renewed by cutting over; this operation
being also useful to defer the flowering, which is surely
hastened by leaving the plants alone. For the winter supply
a late plantation made in a sheltered spot will usually
suffice, for the plant is very hardy; but it may be
expedient sometimes to put old frames over a piece worth
keeping, or to protect during hard weather with dry litter.
A few plants lifted into five-inch pots and placed in a cool
house will often tide over a difficult period. In gathering,
care should be taken to pick separately the young leaves
that are nearly full grown, and to take only one or two from
each plant. It costs no more time to fill a basket by taking
a leaf or two here and there from a whole row than to strip
two or three plants, and the difference in the end will be
considerable as regards the total produce and quality of the
crop. |
|
Garden
Herbs
Home
History of Herbs
Herb Gardening
Herbs for Beginners
Drying & Preserving Herbs
Indoor Herb Gardening
Herb Garden
Hints & Tips
Herbal
Cooking
Herb Chart
Using Herbs
Culinary Herbs
Herb
Oil and Vinegar
Herb Teas
Herb Candy
Herb Jelly
Herb Simples
Preface
Introduction
Alphabetical Listing
Trade
Recipes Online
Share your Recipes with others!!
|
