Parsley

How to propagate parsley

The carrot family carries a long taproot and does not want to be moved, so sow it in place. The seed is slow and needs steady moisture to germinate — never let the top of the soil dry out during those first two weeks. Let one plant bolt and flower and it'll hand you next year's seed in those lacy umbels, plus feed every beneficial insect in the yard.

Growing parsley in Texas

Give it full sun to part shade and rich, moist soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.

This is a cool-season crop. On the Texas Gulf Coast that means your real windows are fall and late winter, not summer — sow as the heat breaks in September–October and again in late winter, and you'll harvest through our mild winters while the rest of the country is frozen out.

In a container it'll dry faster than in the ground, so check the top inch of soil daily in summer; pots on a hot Texas patio can need water every single day.

Harvesting

Figure on roughly 70–90 before you're harvesting. Pick herbs in the morning after the dew dries for the strongest oils, and harvest little and often — regular cutting keeps a herb bushy and stops it bolting. The part you're after: leaves and stems.

Making more for free

Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.