Parsley

Sowing: Parsley can be started indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost or sown directly outdoors once the soil has warmed; germination is often slow and uneven, and soaking the seed overnight can help it along. Because parsley forms a taproot and resists being moved, transplants should be disturbed as little as possible and set out 6 to 12 inches apart in relatively fertile soil.

Watering: Keep the soil evenly moist while seedlings establish. Sequential sowings through midsummer keep a continuous supply of leaves coming, and a fall sowing can sometimes overwinter for an early spring harvest, though the leaf flavor is weaker in the plant's second year. Grown indoors, parsley wants bright light, regular watering and feeding.

Aphids are the most common insect problem, usually kept in check by natural predators or a strong spray of water. Parsley also serves as a host plant for black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, which rarely do enough damage to warrant control beyond hand-picking or moving them to another host such as Queen Anne's lace or fennel.

Septoria leaf spot, caused by the fungus Septoria apiicola, is the most common disease affecting parsley; because the fungus can travel on seed, starting with quality seed helps avoid it.

Leaves can be picked at any time once the plant has made sufficient growth, either by pinching individual sprigs or cutting the whole plant back to within an inch of the ground; regular cutting keeps plants productive through the season, sometimes into early winter. Turnip-rooted types are dug in late fall, after the first freeze but before the ground itself freezes.

Fresh leaves are the usual form for cooking, though both leaves and roots keep their flavor when dried. Cut parsley stores well in the refrigerator wrapped in damp paper towels or standing in a glass of water; it can also be frozen, either blended into oil or dried flat and bagged, though freezing changes its texture.

Culinary: Parsley is grown chiefly for its leaves, used fresh or dried to season soups, salads, meats, fish and sauces, and is one of the main ingredients in tabbouleh. The turnip-rooted form is also grown as a root vegetable, cooked much like a parsnip or celeriac.

Ornamental: Curly-leaved types are grown for their mounded, finely divided foliage, used to edge beds or set off broader-leaved plants; even the flower stalks that develop in the second year are kept in gardens for their architectural form.

Medicinal: Parsley has long been used as a folk medicine, with its leaves and extracted oils traditionally taken for digestive complaints and as a diuretic.

Parsley most likely originated in the eastern Mediterranean, in an area now spanning Greece, the Balkans, Algeria and Morocco. It spread into wider cultivation in Europe during the Middle Ages, when it was commonly grown in monastery and royal gardens before naturalizing more widely.