A cooks best friend, Petroselinum crispum, commonly known as curly parsley, is used in myriad ways in the kitchen. Often discarded by diners as just a garnish, parsley has many valuable nutrients including bet-carotene, calcium, iron, and Vitamins A and C in easily assimilated form. Parsley has a pleasant flavour and is often used as a breath freshener particularly after eating raw garlic and onions.
Parsley is a hardy biennial or short-lived perennial and grows 10 12 inches (24 30 cm) tall. Cultivation requirements: fairly rich, moist soil, full sun or partial shade, water well during dry periods. In the second year, yellowish-white flowers are produced. Parsley can be treated as an annual for cooking purposes, as the first years leaves are superior to the later crops. Parsley will self-sow so you can leave it where it is. Curly parsley makes a gorgeous edging along garden beds and is attractive planted with flowers and in container gardens. You can start the plants in the house prior to planting in the garden or you can seed it straight into the location where you want it to grow.
Parsley can be grown indoors or out. Grow parsley from seed or you can...