How to Grow Parsley Outside - and In

Here's how to grow parsley - indoors and out. Here we are talking about Petroselinum crispum, the curly leaf kind so much in evidence at buffet lunches.

Parsley is a great addition to anyone's diet for a variety of reasons - not least the taste.

Here's some info on why parsley is such a great thing to grow for its nutritional value. Click here to go straight to the sowing and planting guidelines.

Here are a few of the nutritional benefits of eating parsley

Parsley has some serious claims to super-food status. It has a host of health benefits and is a great source of vitamins and minerals.

It is unusually rich in potassium and can act as a natural diuretic (i.e. it promotes urine). It also has a reputation for helping kidney stones, for promoting menstruation and for keeping our arteries in good shape. It also has anti-cancer properties.

Last but not least, it helps freshen the breath after eating pungent foods such as garlic or curry. If you are fond of pungent foods, chewing a sprig of parsley after dinner could do wonders for your social life!

And of course, it is a very tasty addition to many, many dishes.

People often think that growing parsley is difficult; what is difficult is that germination can be fitful and exceptionally slow. But this really is just an exercise in patience. Don't make the mistake of chucking out the contents of the seed tray and starting again before you have waited at least 6 weeks!

Most parsley will start to germinate in about three weeks but new seedlings may still keep appearing weeks later.

Where to sow parsley

You can sow parsley directly in the soil.

Parsley has quite deep roots so it is not so easy to transplant successfully. However, I always like to keep a close eye on seedlings. Starting them off in a seed tray makes it easy not to lose them and to check that they are germinating.

For sowing parsley in a seed tray follow the guidelines given below for planting parsley in a pot.

If your garden area is nice and tidy and you like things in straight rows, parsley seedlings can do well sown straight into the place they are going to grow.

Parsley likes a warm, sunny space which is not too dry. The soil should be rich and free-draining, ideally.

You can sow parsley in mid spring or late summer.

Parsley needs to be sown every year for best results. The plant is a biennial (lives for two years) but in in its second year it is mainly interested in producing seeds, so the leaves are fewer and the plant becomes more stringy and tall.

You can keep a few plants for seeds for next year. Parsley also self-seeds quite easily, so you can find a new crop growing around a previous year's plant. However, this is not a very reliable way of making sure that you have enough growing parsley for your current needs.

Prepare the soil as for most crops until you have a fine tilth and there are no weeds or big stones. Rake the surface to break up clumps of soil.

Draw a row with the edge of a hoe or the tip of a trowel. It should be about 1/2 inch deep (approx 1 cm). Water the soil to make it good and damp - but not flooded!

Pinch up the seeds between thumb and forefinger and thinly sow them. Pull fine soil over them so that they are well covered and firm down the soil with your hand or foot. If you are using your feet be careful not to compact the soil too much.

If you want more than one row, put it about 1 foot away (30cm) so that the adult plants have plenty of space.

When the seedlings are well established thin the crop so that each plant is about 8 inches (15 cm approx) from its neighbour. You can do this in stages if you prefer. Always water after thinning to help minimise stress and root disturbance.

Add a little mulch of well-rotted compost when convenient to keep your parsley crop growing well.

Pre-soak the seed for a day before planting.

Gently water the pot until the compost is moist.

Keep the pot covered to reduce moisture loss for a couple of weeks. Keep the compost nice and moist at all times but don't overdo it as your seeds can rot.

Once the seedling start to appear keep the pot somewhere light. If you are growing the seedlings on a windowsill you will need to turn the pot every couple of days to prevent seedlings leaning towards the sun.

Make sure that the compost never completely dries out.

Once the plants are established you can harvest leaves using a sharp pair of scissors - or just nip off selected leaves with your fingers. Be careful not to dislodge the plant from its soil if you do use fingers.

More herbs!

You can not only learn how to grow parsley but also dozens of other valuable herbs at home. Amazon do an easy starter kit which can be a way to get going quickly. The Indoor Culinary Herb Garden Starter Kit has received rave reviews - even from the Wall Street Journal!

In my book, herb growing is an under-rated skill which needs (and is getting) a bit of a renaissance. If there is a community garden near you, see if they have a herb garden or a herb spiral. A herb spiral is an integrated herb feature which allows different herbs to co-exist and get their ideal growing conditions.

There are courses in growing herbs on offer, too as people work to make more food stuffs local. Re-localisation of our food is an important task in fighting climate change because it enables us to cut down on carbon used in food production and transport.

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