Parsley
No garden is complete without this luscious, attractive and versatile herb its primarily used for garnishing and culinary decoration. The plant will bloom in the second year by sending up stalks bearing small yellow-green flowers. Parsley is grown worldwide for its aromatic edible leaves.
Parsley is a great source of vitamin C, calcium, iron and fiber. This herb can be used as a garnish and for flavoring.
Below are a few ideas as to what you can do with this herb :
- A simple salad: Don’t chop the parsley too finely, the bigger the pieces are the more flavor and color you add to your salad.
- Creamy salad dressing: this simple dressing will add a lovely flavor to your salad, all you need is ½ cup plain yogurt, ¼ extra virgin olive oil, ¼ fresh parsley, salt and black pepper.
- Add to your smoothie.
- Garlic-parsley butter
Parsley enjoys well-draining soil that is rich in organic matter. A spot that gets full sun (6-8 hours of sunlight) is ideal for this herb. It begins to sprout in 7-14 days and you are welcome to harvest them in 5-12 weeks. Grows best at temperatures of 17°-30°.
Harvesting is fairly easy, snip your parsley as this encourages additional growth. Bunch the stems and leaves together and snip them off at ground level with sharp kitchen scissors. If you want to save your parsley long-term, you can freeze them for up to 8 months as freezing retains the flavor better than drying them.