Abundance of Parsley

[Sonshe]

I have an abundance of parsley -- more than I ever had. Other than drying it, what can I do with it? Looks like I need to do something quickly before the frost gets it. It's planted near the house foundation where it's fairly protects so will it continue to grow for the next couple months?

[rocket]

When did you plant it? Parsley is a biennial. If it's a big plant with lots of leaves, then it's probably in it's second year and about to go to seed. If it's a first year plant, your hardiness zone will determine whether or not it will survive to grow some more next year. I think it's hardy to zone 6. Even if it's not hardy for you, it should still keep it's leaves until you get some really cold weather.

[Earthbound]

Throw it in the food processor and make parsley pesto, freeze in plastic containers and pull out in the winter for rubs on fish, dressings, in soups....I add some olive oil, 2or 6 cloves of garlic , some salt and blend.
corry

[Paquebot]

As long as the ground doesn't freeze solid, you can leave it alone and keep using as needed. Once it gets cold enough to freeze the ground an inch or so deep, cover them with about a foot or so of leaves or straw. Then place something over that to hold the leaves in place. If there is a lot of foliage, you can keep collecting it all winter until you eventually have little more than the stem and roots left. In the spring, you'll enjoy a few weeks to a month of fresh parsley. Then it will suddenly grow straight up and produce flowers. It's no longer very tasty after that.

Martin

[BeckyW]

Simply cut each stem, making sure the leaves are clean (give it a quick rinse and thoroughly dry) then put it in a ziplock bag and toss it in the freezer. Anytime a recipe calls for parsley, pull out your frozen parsley and snip off what you need with sissors. Then close up the bag and put the remainder back in the freezer. Frozen parsley tastes EXACTLY like fresh parsley. I NEVER dry my herbs - I freeze them.

BW

[Sonshe]

Thanks! I couldn't believe it's grown so well this past month. I'd about finished with it last month and just hadn't had time to pull it out and now! wow! it's grown really nice. I'm thinking I'll cut most of it and freeze it, and then keep growing several stems and cover them (I'm in Zone 5) to see what happens come next spring.

[Charleen]

Oh, I never thought about freezing it, I've always dried it. Thanks for sharing!