Thursday, July 19, 2018

Parsley Surprise

Learning to grow food in the tropics has brought some real surprises, parsley is one of them. 

I started my parsley in the mini greenhouses, then transplanted to teeny seedlings into small pots for growing on until they were big enough to go out into the garden. I didn't even bother to try seeding it directly into the garden bed because I figured the birds or mice would surely eat the sprouting seedlings. This starting strategy worked just fine, giving me plenty of young plants for transplanting. 

I planted 3 small patches of parsley, not knowing if I would run into pests and diseases. It turns out that parsley is very easy to grow here. I really haven't had any problem with it.....(holding my breathe and crossing my fingers), yet. 

The surprises.....,
... It grows year around here. It never stops. So I learned that I planted far too much for my own use and for trading. 
... It never dies back in the winter. It just keeps on going, developing thick stems and looking like miniature trees. 
... It never bolts. This also means that without going to unusual measures, I can't produce parsley seed. 

Above, I just harvested some parsley and now it's easy to see the thick stems.....like mini tree trunks. 


The plants actually look attractive as mini trees. These plants are 3 years old now. The thick stem keeps the leaves well above the soil, thus keeping them clean. That's a nice side benefit, 


Put my finger in there just for comparison. Right after this, I applied a light mulching (1/2" thick) using sifted compost, then covered that with fresh grass clippings. 

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