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| Meet Parsleyzilla. Speak softly and make no sudden moves, or face death by garnishment. |
Last year I had a lot of basil in my one herb bed, which means after the first frost, there was quite a bit of empty space. The chives looked dead but, much to my surprise, bounced back nicely once winter was over, and my thyme has just kept plugging along, doing fine as well.
But my parsley.....my parsley kept right on growing though the coldest part of winter, and is now threatening to take over the entire bed. I let it grow, thinking it would die off at any time, but instead has become a monster, overpowering the rest of the bed and trying to become the only plant in there.
I am of the opinion that garnishes should not have their own zip code. Parsley has its place, for sure, but not as a main course on anyone's table.
With that in mind, I'm going to give it a good pruning (and by that I mean some serious chopping) and see what happens. The thing is, I love parsley -- but in moderation -- kind of like I enjoy opera, action movies and small children . The fact is, no one needs this much parsley.
Why can't I have this problem with olallieberries, or something else I could truly eat buckets of and still want more?
Looks to me like your parsley is simply carrying out its destiny. As a biennial, it grew through one season, and now in the second year, it will bloom, set seed, and die. I don't think that even a hard pruning will convince it to keep growing without blooming, but I've been wrong before, and it won't hurt to try.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Helen! I guess I'll let it keep going until it's on its way out, I pruned it enough to give the chives and thyme some room. The emerging blossoms are actually quite tasty, too!
DeleteOne of my favorite summer pastas is a sauce of EVOO, lemon juice, tons of parsley, a little sautéed onion, and olives. I also add anchovy but I know not everyone rolls that way. It's so good. And it'll help you get that monster pruned down! Is its flavor still good? Or is it sort of bitter at this point? Some years my parsley overwinters but I don't keep it because I find year 2 flavor to not be as good.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds seriously good...as in, good enough to be dinner one night next week. I have some kalamata olives that I think would work great with your recipe. I'll post pics when I do it so you can see how it came out! The flavor of the parsley is still as good as ever, which is surprising, and even the stalks and blossoms are tasty. Not a hint of bitter at all, but as it warms up more as we head into the summer months, it may get bitter on me I guess. Better enjoy it now!
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