- Author: Lauria Watts
I call these the Big Four: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Easy to grow in our area (southern California), common to find in pots, and tasty in recipes.
They can be beautiful in the garden or pot. Parsley is a deep, deep, woodsy green and quite pretty when it blooms in its second year of growth. Blooming Rosemary's pine-like leaves look frosted with sky-blue flowers when it blooms; some varieties have white or pink blossoms. Soft looking Sage grows in pillow-like mounds and throws some lovely flowers above the leaves. Tasty Thyme grows low, with tiny, tiny leaves, and is quite decorative when each branch is capped by a miniature pom-pom of dainty flowers.
These herbs are easy to dry. While a dehydrator will make a very easy task of drying herbs, drying can be done in an oven if you do it with care. I have dried parsley in my ancient natural gas wall oven quite quickly. As the oven is very old, circa 1965-1970 (as I said, ancient--not kidding here!), it has a pilot light which will keep the oven somewhere between 90º-100º F. Just about anything will dry quickly.
For best flavor pick these herbs just before they bloom, but don't worry, they will still have plenty of flavor if you don't. The day before picking you can spray down the plants to get dust off of the leaves. The next morning pick early and lay leafy branches in in mostly one layer on newspaper covered cookie sheets so that they will dry quickly. Then, put the sheets in the oven . My oven's door is braced slightly open and the herbs are stirred several times to ensure all properly dry to crispy. You can most easily separate leaves and twiggy matter after drying, then place leaves in storage containers, preferably glass jars . In just a day or so enough freshly dried herbs can be packed away to last for a year.
As Thyme has such fine leaves oven drying will keep them together well. Rosemary and Sage can be oven dried or you can go old school: gather picked branches in bundles of six and then hang them out of the sun in your house or garage/patio to dry; during our summers, this can be very quick. Make sure you pack your dried stuff into glass jars as soon as it is finished to keep your herbs fresh and clean. Store your packed herbs in a cool, dark, dry place.
Herbs carefully and properly dried with any method will be fresh, colorful and tasty. Additional bonuses of growing herbs for drying: you will have plenty of herbs for fresh use as well as dried, you will know they will be very flavorful, and you will have plenty to experiment with when cooking.
For a great instructional article from the National Center for Food Preservation (NCHFP), look here: Complete instructions on drying herbs from the NCHFP.
/span>
(We're catching up. What with one thing and another, we are a bit behind posting to our blog. Thanks for sticking with us!)
Parsley, by Denise Levine, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.
Parsley. Is it the frilly, dark green garnish on your plate that goes back to the dishwasher at the end of your meal? Or is it the first herb you add to everything from omelettes to soup? Either way, parsley planting season is upon us.
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a cold-tolerant biennial that easily grows through our relatively mild Napa County winters. Once established, parsley is pretty hardy, and I can attest to its willingness to come back from mild neglect. Still, for abundant bunches to cut for your kitchen through long seasons, parsley grows best in rich, evenly moist, compost-rich soil in garden beds or pots.
Parsley seed can be slow to germinate and normally takes at least 18 days. You can hasten germination by soaking parsley seeds overnight. Sow seeds ¼ inch deep and keep moist until you see germination.
If you directly sow your seeds into garden beds or boxes, sow parsley one to two inches apart in a row with quicker-germinating lettuce or radishes so you know where the seeds are. By the time you are harvesting lettuce thinnings and radishes for your fall salads, you can be thinning your now visible parsley.
Other gardeners favor planting four or five seeds in each small pot or seed block to nurture through germination. Set transplants three to four inches apart in the garden when large enough. Parsley grows up to one foot the first year and can double in size in year two.
Parsley does fine in full sun with ample water but thrives in partial shade. Keep small plants evenly moist and weed early and often to help it get established. With its deep green foliage, pretty white flowers and mostly pest-free existence, parsley can easily contribute to an edible landscaping design.
You can also purchase parsley seedlings at your favorite local nursery or garden center.
Give parsley a space where it can stay for a while. It has a two-year life cycle, but parsley self- sows easily if you let some plants flower and develop seed. At the end of the season, give the seed heads a good shake over the bed and keep moist until germination and you will soon be harvesting parsley thinnings again.
Another reason to let some parsley go to flower and then seed is to attract pollinators and birds to your garden. Parsley is in the Umbellifer family, whose decorative flowers and round seed heads are magnets for all kinds of beneficial insects. At the end of parsley's life cycle, parsley roots are prized, too. Many winter soups and stews have parsley root as their backbone, and it is often used as a substitute for turnips or parsnips. Peel them before use.
Begin to harvest outer stems of your plants when they have 8 to 10 leaves. Be sparing until the plants are established. When the parsley has filled out, harvest by grabbing a bunch and snipping it across at the stems. You will often see a new flush of tender growth. Parsley, when happy, is very generous.
I like to grow several different parsleys. Curly-leaf parsley is the darker green, frilly type that many of us think of as parsley. I like it for the deep color it contributes, minced, to grain salads or stuffed eggs. Curly parsley often finds its way into vases of flowers, too. The flat-leaf Italian varieties, both large and giant, are a kitchen staple in my house. Parsley pesto, parsley butter, parsley chopped into grain salads: there are so many ways to use parsley.
Do not wash parsley until you are ready to use it. Swish it through water to dislodge any dirt and use your salad spinner to dry, or blot with paper towels.
Fertilize parsley plants monthly with a nitrogen fertilizer, or more often if you notice leaves beginning to look less dark-green and more yellowish. Parsley is a nutritious and easy-to-grow addition to your kitchen garden. Take care of parsley, and it will take care of you.
Free Guided Tree Walk: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County on a fun, informational walk through beautiful Fuller Park in downtown Napa. As we meander through the park, we will talk about the park's history and introduce you to 41 different trees. Wear comfortable shoes. Water and restrooms are available and handicap accessible. Trees to Know in Napa Valley will be offered at $15, cash or check only. We are unable to process credit card payments. Meet at Fuller Park, 560 Jefferson Street, Napa. ONLINE REGISTRATION or call 707-253-4221.There is no charge for attendance and walk-ins are welcome. You can be assured of receiving a complimentary map if you sign up at least 48 hours in advance.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
- Author: Petr Kosina
Cilantro and parsley growers have something else to be happy about: The UC Statewide IPM Program just released new Pest Management Guidelines for Cilantro and Parsley.
Cilantro and parsley are herbs used both fresh and dry for preparation of many popular dishes in almost all parts of the world including California. Apart from their pleasant flavor, both plants are also known for a number of nutritional and health benefits.
In California, cilantro and parsley are grown commercially on more than 7,000 acres, primarily along the southern and central coast. Cilantro (also known as Chinese or Mexican parsley) and parsley are examples of specialty vegetable crops important in crop rotations and in contributing to California's overall agricultural diversity.
Check out the new guidelines and other pest management information on the UC IPM website.
- Editor: Dean Dubbe
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
- Author: Petr Kosina
Cilantro and parsley growers have something else to be happy about – The UC Statewide IPM Program just released new Pest Management Guidelines for Cilantro and Parsley.
Cilantro and parsley are herbs used both fresh and dry for preparation of many popular dishes in almost all parts of the world including California. Apart from their pleasant flavor, both plants are also known for a number of nutritional and health benefits.
In California, cilantro and parsley are grown commercially on more than 7,000 acres, primarily along the southern and central coast. Cilantro (also known as Chinese or Mexican parsley) and parsley are examples of specialty vegetable crops important in crop rotations and in contributing to California's overall agricultural diversity.
Although pest problems aren't too common for home gardeners growing cilantro or parsley, for commercial growers, crop damage due to insect pests and diseases may be devastating and cause important economic losses.The new UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines for cilantro and parsley provide pest and management information for insects pests (including beet armyworm, cabbage looper, and aphids), diseases (including apium virus Y, bacterial leaf spot, carrot motley dwarf, cilantro yellow blotch, Fusarium wilt, and septoria leaf spot), and nematodes. Because weed management costs can be very high in cilantro and parsley unless weed control programs are carefully planned and implemented, a comprehensive weed management section is also included.
Check out the new guidelines and other pest management information on the UC IPM website.
- Author: Jennifer Rindahl
California parsley is produced typically in high volumes and with high quality. However in the past few years, growers began to observe unfamiliar disease issues in their parsley fields. Leaf spots, blighted foliage and yellowed plants contributed to loss of quality and reduced yields. Steven Koike and Oleg Daugovish, UC Cooperative Extension advisors in Monterey and Ventura counties respectively, stepped in to investigate the new parsley problems. They collaborated with farmers and pest control advisers to understand the extent of the problems and to obtain samples of the diseased crops.
The UC Cooperative Extension plant pathology diagnostic lab in Salinas was successful in isolating and identifying several pathogens that were responsible for causing the disease symptoms. Working with USDA, they found that three new diseases were present in California parsley crops: bacterial leaf spot, Stemphylium leaf spot, and Apium virus Y disease.
Two of these problems are seedborne, so future management will include the use of pathogen-free seeds. The Apium virus Y pathogen is found in weeds, so growers will need to remove poison hemlock, among others.
Previous to this research, some growers were spraying symptomatic fields because they believed that a disease called late blight was responsible for the disease symptoms. Growers have now ceased making these sprays, eliminating the use of unnecessary chemicals and saving costs.